Ml/ 


Shelf  No.1q£ 


ORIENTAL  COLLECTION 

OF 

W.  T.  WALTERS, 


65  Mt.  Vernon  Place,  Baltimore. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction,  . v 

Writers  on  Oriental  Art, i 

CHINESE  SECTION. 

Pottery  and  Porcelain  : 

Pere  d’Entrecolles,  . 9 

Stanislas  Julien,  ........  23 

Jade, 38 

Metal  Vases  and  Bronzes, 45 

Symbolical  Ornaments 49 

JAPANESE  SECTION. 

Pottery  and  Porcelain, 63 

Lacquer, 68 

Swords, 75 

Bronzes, 84 

Painting, 91 

Carvings, 94 

Cloisonne  Enamel, 95 

ANCIENT  AND  EUROPEAN  SECTION. 

Ancient  Potteries, 97 

European  Potteries,  ........  109 

European  Porcelain  : 

Dresden,  .........  123 

Vienna,  . . . . . . . . . .124 

Sevres,  . . , . . . . . . .124 

Berlin, 126 


INTRODUCTION. 


We  submit  to  our  friends,  and  those  generally  interested 
in  the  subject,  the  result  of  our  efforts  for  more  than  twenty 
years  as  collectors  of  Oriental  objects  of  art,  mainly 
Chinese  and  Japanese.  Our  interest  and  effort  have  been 
more  in  the  direction  of  securing  characteristic  examples 
of  the  beautiful,  either  in  form,  color  or  material,  than  of 
the  merely  curious. 

Regarding  the  Ceramic  Art  from  the  standpoint  of  true 
decorative  principles,  whether  in  its  strongest  character- 
istics, or  in  the  more  subtle  refinement  and  delicacy  of 
treatment  both  of  color  and  general  manipulation,  there 
can  be  no  question  that  the  Chinese  have  established  their 
preeminence  in  this  artistic  development,  compared  with 
all  that  has  been  accomplished  up  to  the  present  time ; 
therefore  the  Collection  will  be  found  to  be  made  up 
largely  of  the  products  of  that  remarkable  people.  In  com- 
parison with  the  productions  of  all  other  countries,  their 
colors  will  be  found  to  possess  less  meretriciousness,  greater 
strength  and  depth,  as  well  as  greater  elegance.  W e refer, 
of  course,  to  their  ancient  productions,  say  previous  to  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  when  the  decadence  of  the  art 
had  become  manifest,  stimulated  no  doubt  by  the  demands 
of  European  commerce,  not  for  peculiar  or  single  art 
objects,  but  for  thousands  of  the  mechanical  reproductions 
of  the  same  thing. 

For  the  cause  of  art,  it  is  sad  to  feel.that  this  is  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  Japanese  also  are  tending — a people 


VI 


INTRODUCTION. 


discovered  by  Western  nations  some  thirty  years  ago  in 
possession  of  a noble  and  elevated  original  art,  so  original 
and  impressive,  that  its  influence  has  largely  revolution- 
ized the  principles  and  augmented  the  beauty  of  decora- 
tive art  as  previously  practiced  by  Europeans,  as  well  as 
by  ourselves.  As  an  illustration  of  the  artistic  value 
attached  to  Chinese  porcelain  by  Europeans,  particularly 
by  the  French  during  the  last  century,  examples  will  be 
found  in  the  Collection  with  bronze  and  other  decorative 
mountings  executed  by  the  best  talent,  and  at  an  expense 
far  exceeding  the  commercial  value  of  the  object  before 
mounting.  Visitors  to  the  Museum  of  the  Louvre  will 
also  recall  the  splendid  specimens  deposited  there,  which 
belonged  to  the  collection  of  the  unfortunate  and  accom- 
plished Queen  of  Louis  XVI,  who  contributed  so  much 
to  this  “ epoch  of  good  taste.” 

The  Chinese  themselves  have  been  noted  for  their 
advanced  taste  in  the  preference  they  have  evinced  for 
simple  or  solid  colors  (in  producing  which  great  perfec- 
tion was  reached),  rather  than  for  the  more  elaborate 
decorations  of  a later  period.  Thus  they  parted  with  the 
three  beautiful  colors,  Sang-de-boeuf,  Coral,  and  Peach 
(also  called  Crushed  Strawberry),  with  such  reluctance 
that  until  within  the  past  few  years  these  colors  were 
hardly  known  to  have  existed  outside  of  China.  The  ex- 
orbitant prices  offered  by  Europeans  and  Americans  at 
last  proved  too  great  a temptation.  Some  twenty  ex- 
amples of  these  fascinating  colors  will  be  found  isolated 
on  the  bridge  connecting  the  Picture  and  Oriental 
Galleries.  The  production  of  these  colors  is  supposed 
to  have  ceased  with  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
some  three  hundred  years  since.  A very  intelligent  and 
practical  gentleman,  head  of  one  of  the  largest  ceramic 


INTRODUCTION. 


Vll 


producing  establishments  of  England,  said  to  us  : “We 

spent  several  years  and  more  than  thirty  thousand  dollars 
in  experiments  to  produce  the  Sang-de-bceuf  color.  The 
chemical  knowledge  required  to  produce  the  peculiar 
effect  was  not  our  greatest  trouble;  we  not  only  found 
that  the  exact  degree  of  heat  in  baking  was  a desideratum, 
but  a still  greater  one  was  the  precise  time  the  objects 
required  to  be  exposed  to  this  temperature,  inasmuch  as 
ten  seconds  more  or  less  were  fatal,  causing  the  result  to 
be  either  black  or  white.  After  hundreds  of  experiments 
which  proved  failures  we  abandoned  it  as  hopeless.” 

In  refinement  and  delicacy,  if  possible,  even  these 
colors  are  excelled  by  the  various  shades,  beginning  with 
light  Rose  and  running  into  Ruby,  found  mainly  in  the 
treatment  of  the  backs  of  the  finest  Egg-shell  plates  and 
cups  and  saucers.  In  our  own  time  as  well  as  previously, 
persistence  and  intelligence  have  been  used,  and  large 
sums  of  money  wasted  in  endeavoring  to  reproduce  the 
Chinese  colors.  Two  gentlemen,  one  the  head  of  an  es- 
tablishment in  France,  the  other  of  one  in  England,  where 
most  has  been  done  in  this  direction,  have  said  'to  us  in 
the  past  year  that  they  regarded  all  their  efforts  as  having 
been  signal  failures.  We  accepted  the  invitation  to  inspect 
the  private  collection  of  a gentleman  in  France,  whose 
name  is  best  known  in  our  country  for  his  success  in 
modern  ceramic  production.  Expressing  our  surprise  at 
finding  nothing  but  the  Oriental  in  his  collection,  “ Oh, 
yes,”  he  replied,  “ I desire  to  leave  to  my  children  that 
which  is  most  beautiful  and  perfect  of  its  kind.” 

If  the  palm  is  to  be  awarded  to  the  Chinese  for  their 
ancient  ceramic  productions,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  Japanese  excel  them  as  to  their  modern  work.  This 
applies  equally  to  the  Japanese  artistic  efforts  both 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION. 


ancient  and  modern,  in  all  metal  work,  including  gold, 
silver,  bronze,  iron,  or  in  combinations  or  alloys  of  metals. 
One  of  the  foremost  expressions  of  artistic  individuality 
is  undoubtedly  their  exquisitely  beautiful  lacquer. 

In  the  department  of  Japanese  Pottery  it  is  not  difficult 
to  discover  a certain  simple  but  characteristic  elegance 
and  originality  which  imparts  to  it  a peculiar  fascination. 
It  is  very  true  that  the  Japanese  may  be  referred  to  as 
allowing  themselves  to  be  subjected  to  foreign  influence ; 
this  is  the  case  not  only  as  to  their  arts  and  science,  but 
their  language,  literature  and  writing,  have  been  derived 
from  other  countries— in  a great  measure  from  China  and 
Corea.  Even  one  of  their  leading  religions  has  a foreign 
origin.  Notwithstanding,  however,  their  indebtedness  to 
other  lands,  they  have  imparted  to  their  borrowed  ac- 
quirements a charm  of  their  own,  which  has  been  fostered 
by  powerful  and  highly  cultivated  nobles,  a class  not  ex- 
isting in  China.  Thus  Satsuma  faience,  though  originally 
attributed  to  Corean  potters  (who  were  brought  to  Japan), 
very  soon  assumed  qualities  and  characteristics  unlike 
any  Corean  examples  we  have  ever  met,  which,  for  the 
most  part,  are  crude  and  unshapely.  We  refer  with  great 
interest  to  a very  comprehensive  illustration  of  Satsuma 
ware  in  the  Collection,  which  will  be  found  to  possess 
unique  and  interesting  features  as  a branch  of  the  potter’s 
art. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  arrange  the  Collection 
chronologically,  but  examples  will  be  found  in  the  depart- 
ment of  Ceramics  covering  the  history  of  its  production 
for  about  eight  hundred  years,  and  in  that  of  Lacquers 
for  about  seven  hundred  years.  In  the  main,  Chinese  and 
Japanese  objects  have  been  kept  carefully  distinct.  This 
is  especially  the  case  in  the  Ceramic  department.  The 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


distinction  has  not  been  so  carefully  observed  between  the 
more  primitive  examples  of  Corean  and  Japanese  Pottery 
and  Faience. 

In  pursuit  of  the  subject,  Oriental  Art,  besides  a some- 
what protracted  residence  abroad,  together  with  frequent 
visits  to  Europe,  it  has  been  our  privilege,  and  we  esteem 
it  a great  one,  to  have  been  enabled  to  visit  all  the  Uni- 
versal Expositions  held  in  the  past  twenty-five  years. 
We  recall  with  great  vividness  the  surprise  and  pleasure 
we  experienced  in  the  revelations  of  the  Oriental  Depart- 
ment of  the  London  International  Exposition  of  1862,  and 
the  interest  excited  in  us  by  this  first  exhibit  of  Japanese 
Art  Objects  in  a foreign  country.  The  collection,  num- 
bering several  hundred  examples,  was  the  property  of  and 
sent  there  by  the  liberal  and  intelligent  enterprise  of  Sir 
Rutherford  Alcock,  at  the  time  Resident  Minister  of  Great 
Britain  at  the  Court  of  Japan. 

A further  impetus  and  additional  interest  was  imparted 
by  the  Japanese  Government  taking  charge  of  their  more 
comprehensive  exhibit,  and  appointing  commissioners  to 
represent  them  at  Paris  in  1867,  and  at  Vienna  in  1873. 
To  the  latter  of  these  Expositions  we  were  officially  related. 
Not  one  of  the  least  interesting  incidents  of  our  experience 
there  was  encountering  the  collection  of  Chinese  porcelain, 
owned  and  sent  by  Prince  Ehtezadesaltanet,  uncle  of  the 
Shah  of  Persia.  The  collection  contained  many  rare  and 
desirable  objects,  all  bearing  date  previous  to  1630,  up  to 
which  time  Persia  was  the  central  point  of  the  route  from 
China  overland  to  the  West.  Our  Collection  contains  a 
number  of  the  choicest  selections  from  this  remarkable 
exhibit,  a part  of  them  with  intricate  and  characteristic 
Persian  mounts  in  metal. 

All  Americans  will  recall  the  remarkable  display  made 
by  both  China  and  Japan  at  our  great  “ Centennial.” 


X 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  is  well  known  that  the  largest  collection  of  Oriental, 
as  well  as  of  European  objects  of  Ceramic  Art  is  to  be 
found  in  Dresden,  the  property  of  the  Saxon  government. 
The  Oriental  part,  mainly  Chinese  and  Japanese,  was  se- 
cured between  1694  and  1705,  by  Augustus  II,  King  of 
Poland  and  Elector  of  Saxony.  The  European  part  has 
been  added  to  from  time  to  time  until  the  whole  collection 
comprises  about  fifteen  thousand  objects,  of  which  some 
nine  thousand  are  Chinese.  The  Oriental  portion,  impor- 
tant as  it  is,  and  in  some  respects  unequalled,  is  neverthe- 
less wanting  in  examples  of  the  finer  qualities  to  impart  a 
complete  comprehensiveness.  It  may  be  accepted  that 
nowhere  are  such  advantages  presented  to  the  student  of 
Ceramic  history,  nowhere  is  the  entire  ground  so  fully  and 
intelligently  covered,  as  at  Dresden.  We  should  feel 
ourselves  wanting  in  appreciation  if  we  failed  to  recognize 
the  advantages  placed  there  within  our  reach  on  the  occa- 
sion of  our  frequent  and  protracted  visits.  Its  usefulness 
impressed  us  more  and  more  after  each  visit,  and  it  is 
always  our  desire  to  return  to  this  charming  Museum,  and 
also  to  the  otherwise  attractive  “ Florence  of  Germany.” 
The  following  extract,  from  a letter  just  received  from 
an  intelligent  personal  friend,  who  recently  paid  a visit  to 
Sevres,  beautifully  describes  his  impressions  of  that  estab- 
lishment and  its  collections.  He  says : 

“Alas!  Sevres  is  not  very  rich,  and  its  funds  scarcely 
enable  it  to  compete  with  the  great  amateurs.  Madame 
de  Pompadour  is  no  longer  there  to  watch  over  her 
favorite  creation,  flattering  the  artists  and  organizing  exhi- 
bitions of  Sevres  ware  in  the  chateau  of  Versailles ; selling 
the  ware,  even,  and  imposing  on  the  Court  this  new  fashion 
and  this  new  expense  by  all  the  means  that  a favorite 
commands.  ‘ It  is  to  fail  in  one’s  duties  as  a citizen,’  she 


INTRODUCTION. 


XI 


used  to  say,  1 not  to  buy  this  porcelain  as  long  as  one  has 
any  money.’  It  is  to  Madame  de  Pompadour  that  France 
owes  the  establishment  of  Sevres  and  the  discovery  of  that 
porcelain  that  rivalled  the  hitherto  unique  Saxe.  It  is  to 
Madame  de  Pompadour,  to  the  caprice  of  an  adorable 
woman  who  was  almost  a Queen,  that  we  owe  the  deli- 
ciously affected  Louis  XV.  Sevres,  into  which  Madame  de 
Pompadour  put  something  of  her  beauty,  of  her  smile, 
and  of  her  charm. 

“ About  the  technicalities  of  the  manufacture  of  Sevres 
porcelain,  the  mysteries  of  pate  tendre  and  pclte  dure , and 
the  combined  excellences  of  the  new  p&te  discovered  by 
the  present  administrator  of  the  manufactory,  M.  Lauth, 
you  must  not  seek  information  here.  I am  simply  remind- 
ing you  of  the  existence  of  a fine  museum  which  few  visi- 
tors to  Paris  ever  reach,  a museum  where  they  will  be  able 
to  see  the  progress  of  pottery  and  porcelain  from  the  most 
ancient  times  up  to  the  present  day.  The  arrangement 
of  the  museum  is  simple  and  admirable.  There  are  there 
specimens  of  all  of  the  known  faiences  and  porcelains;  not 
all  fine  specimens,  it  is  true;  still  there  they  are,  ticketed 
and  dated  and  classified  by  origin  and  family.  Old  Egyp- 
tian, old  Roman,  Gallic,  Oiron  ware,  faiences  of  Urbino, 
of  Gubbio,  of  Lucca  della  Robbia,  Moustiers,  Nevers, 
Rouen,  splendid  enamelled  faience  stoves,  a magnificent 
work-table,  the  top  of  which  is  an  immense  tray  of  Rouen 
ware,  Hispano-moresque  pottery  with  its  metallic  reflec- 
tions, Medicean  ware  and  Sevres  ware  of  all  epochs,  some 
of  which — as,  for  instance,  the  epoch  of  1830-40 — are 
marvellous  for  the  bad  taste  of  the  shapes  and  designs  as 
they  are  for  the  perfection  of  the  execution.  Then  there 
are  cases  full  of  the  delicious  porcelain  of  Japan  and  of 
China,  the  porcelain  of  China  superior  to  all  the  porcelains 


Xll 


INTRODUCTION. 


of  the  universe,  that  porcelain  that  for  centuries  and  all 
over  the  globe  has  had  collectors  more  crazy  and  passion- 
ate than  any  other  branch  of  curiosity — that  porcelain 
whose  perfection  the  Chinese  attributed  to  the  intervention 
of  the  Spirit  of  furnace  fires,  who  protected  the  baking  of 
the  works  of  the  Ceramists,  whom  he  loved.  Here  are 
marvels ; porcelain  translucent  as  jade ; blue  porcelain,  blue 
as  the  sky,  thin  as  paper,  brilliant  as  a mirror, ; white  Chou 
porcelain,  whose  whiteness,  according  to  a Chinese  poet, 
surpasses  the  whiteness  of  snow,  and  whose  sonority  is 
more  plaintive  than  the  wind  that  whispers  amongst  the 
reeds  on  a sunless  day,  for  the  poets  of  the  extreme  Orient 
sing  of  the  beauties  of  porcelain  as  our  poets  would  sing  of 
a fine  landscape.  Truly  there  is  no  greater  enchantment 
for  the  eyes  of  a colorist  than  the  delicacies  of  the  palette 
of  the  Chinese  Ceramists,  those  consummate  artists  who 
could  satisfy  the  desire  of  Chi-Tsong  and  produce  porce- 
lain of  the  blue  of  the  heavens  after  rain  in  the  intervals  of 
the  clouds.” 

In  another  portion  of  the  house  will  be  found  about  two 
hundred  objects  of  European  porcelain,  mainly  Sevres, 
Vienna,  Dresden,  and  other  German  manufactories  ; these, 
we  think,  will  be  useful  for  comparison  with  each  other 
and  with  the  productions  of  Oriental  art. 

Our  Oriental  Collection  comprises  at  the  present  time 
about  4100  objects,  distributed  as  follows: 

Chinese  Porcelains  and  Potteries,  1400;  Japanese  Porce* 
lains  and  Potteries,  400;  Metal  objects  composed  wholly 
or  in  part  of  Gold,  Silver,  Iron,  Copper,  etc.,  200;  Bronzes, 
200;  Swords,  150;  Sword  Guards,  300;  Seppa,  Habaki, 
and  Kojiri  (appliances  of  the  sword),  400;  Ivories,  includ- 
ing Netsukes,  500;  Lacquers,  including  Inros,  500;  other 
objects,  50. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Xlll 


In  preparing  the  following  pages  we  acknowledge 
ourselves  indebted  to  the  intelligent  gentlemen  of  China 
and  Japan  whom  it  has  been  our  pleasure  and  edification 
to  meet  in  our  own  country  as  well  as  in  Europe.  Our 
obligations  are  particularly  great,  however,  to  Mr.  A.  W. 
Franks  (now  of  the  British  Museum),  the  most  thorough 
investigator  we  have  met,  and  a gentleman  whose  intelli- 
gent opinions  and  just  conclusions  we  fully  accept  and 
adopt. 

We  commend  to  students,  as  well  as  amateurs,  the  fol- 
lowing authors,  from  whose  writings  we  have  derived 
great  satisfaction  and  profit,  and  which  have  been  largely 
used  in  compiling  these  pages: 

Lettres  edefiantes  et  curieuses,  6crite  des  Missions  etran- 
geres.  Nouvelle  Edition  (publi£e  par  l’Abbe  de  Quer- 
beuf).  Paris,  1780-1783.  Preferred  to  the  first  edition, 
which  was  printed  in  Paris,  1717-1776.  Pere  d’Entre- 
colles’  letters  will  be  found  in  volumes  18,  19. 

Trait6  des  Arts  Ceramiques.  Par  A.  Brongniart.  Paris, 
1844. 

Histoire  et  Fabrication  de  la  Porcelaine  Chinoise. 
Ouvrage  traduit  du  Chinois.  Par  Stanislas  Julien.  Paris, 
1856. 

History  of  Pottery  and  Porcelain,  in  the  15th,  16th,  17th 
and  1 8th  centuries.  -By  Joseph  Marryat.  London,  1868. 

South  Kensington  Museum  Publications,  especially : 

Japanese  Pottery  and  Porcelain.  By  A.  W.  Franks. 

1880. 

Collection  of  Articles  of  Japanese  Art.  By  W.  J. 
Alt.  1876. 

Maiolica.  By  C.  Drury  E.  Fortnum.  1876. 

Persian  Art.  By  Maj.  R.  Murdoch  Smith,  R.  E. 

1876. 

Five  Years  in  Japan.  By  J.  L.  C.  Meerdevoort. 


XIV 


INTRODUCTION. 


Keramic  Art  of  Japan.  By  G.  A.  Audsley  and  J.  L. 
Bowes.  London,  1877. 

Shell  Mounds  of  Omori.  By  E.  S.  Morse.  Tokio,  1879. 

The  Mikado’s  Empire.  By  W.  E.  Griffis.  New  York, 
1876. 

Le  Jade.  Par  S.  Blondel.  Paris,  1875. 

Ancient  Chinese  Vases.  By  P.  P.  Thoms.  London, 
1851. 

Majolica  and  Fayence.  By  Arthur  Beckwith.  New 
York,  1877. 

Palissy,  the  Potter.  By  Henry  Morley.  London,  n.  d. 

Porcelaines  de  Sevres  de  Mme.  du  Barry.  Par  Baron 
Ch.  Davillier.  Paris,  1870. 

Histoire  de  la  Faience  de  Delft.  Par  Henry  Havard. 
Paris,  1878. 

Ceramic  Art  in  Great  Britain.  By  LI.  Jewett.  London, 
1878. 

Life  of  Josiah  Wedgwood.  By  Eliza  Meteyard.  Lon- 
don, 1865. 

Guide  de  l’Amateur  de  Porcelaines  et  de  Poteries.  Par 
J.  G.  T.  Graesse.  Dresde,  1880. 

Guide  de  l’Amateur  de  Faiences  et  Porcelaines.  Par 
Auguste  Demmin.  Paris,  1873. 

Marks  and  Monograms  on  Pottery  and  Porcelain.  By 
William  Chaffers.  London,  1866. 

Japanese  Marks  and  Seals.  By  James  L.  Bowes.  Lon- 
don, 1882. 

Marques  et  Monogrammes.  Par  Ris-Paquot.  Paris, 
1874. 

Iconographie  de  la  Faience.  Par  M A.  A.  Mareschal. 
Paris,  1875. 

A Budget  of  Japanese  Notes.  By  C.  Pfoundes.  Yoko- 
hama, Japan,  1875. 


INTRODUCTION. 


XV 


Art  and  Art  Industries  of  Japan.  By  Sir  Rutherford 
Alcock.  London,  1878. 

L’Art  Japonais.  Par  Louis  Gonse.  Paris,  1883. 

The  Ornamental  Arts  of  Japan.  By  G.  A.  Audsley. 
1883.  Now  appearing. 

The  Publications  of  the  Japanese  Commissioners  at 
the  International  Expositions  of  Vienna,  Philadelphia,  and 
Paris. 

Mrs.  Bury  Palisser,  and  Hopper  and  Phillips’  Manuals 
of  Marks. 


WRITERS  ON  ORIENTAL  ART. 


WRITERS  ON  ORIENTAL  ART. 


The  earliest  description  we  have  of  the  processes  con- 
nected with  the  manufacture  of  Oriental  porcelain  is  to  be 
found  in  the  valuable  letters  from  a Jesuit  Missionary, 
Pere  d’Entrecolles,  written  in  1712  and  1722,  and  pub- 
lished (Paris,  1781)  in  “ Lettres  €difiantes  et  curieuses,” 
copies  of  which  are  now  rare.  The  most  scientific  work 
that  has  appeared  on  the  nature  of  porcelain  and  its 
chemistry  is  the  “Traits  des  Arts  C6ramiques,”  by  A. 
Brongniart,  1844.  The  only  work  which  affords  any 
native  evidence  on  the  history  of  Chinese  porcelain,  and 
the  various  places  at  which  it  has  been  manufactured,  is 
the  “ Histoire  de  la  Fabrication  dela  Porcelaine  Chinoise,” 
translated  from  the  Chinese  by  M.  Stanislas  Julien  (Paris, 
1856).  In  Marryat’s  “ History  of  Pottery  and  Porcelain  ” 
is  an  extended  account  of  the  Oriental  fabrics,  with  some 
useful  chronological  notes  on  the  introduction  of  por- 
celain into  Western  Asia  and  Europe,  as  well  as  an 
abstract  of  the  History  of  King-te-tching.  The  marks  on 
Oriental  porcelain  are  given  in  the  various  editions  of 
Chaffers’  “ Marks  and  Monograms  on  Pottery  and  Por- 
celain” ; they  are  also  to  be  found  in  works  published  by 
Dr.  Graesse,  Mrs.  Bury  Palliser,  and  others,  as  well  as  in 
Hooper  and  Phillips’  Manual  of  Marks. 

The  most  elaborate  treatises,  however,  which  have 
appeared  on  these  subjects  are  “ Histoire  de  la  Porce- 


4 


WRITERS  ON  ORIENTAL  ART. 


laine,”  by  A.  Jacquemart  and  E.  Le  Blant  (Paris,  1862), 
and  “ Histoire  de  la  CSramique,”  by  A.  Jacquemart  (Paris, 
1873).  These  works  contain  minute  descriptions  of  the 
various  kinds  of  Oriental  porcelain,  written  by  one  who 
could  fully  appreciate  their  merits,  and  who  has  be- 
stowed great  pains  upon  their  investigation.  With  many 
of  the  conclusions  of  this  talented  writer  (whose  recent 
death  we  all  have  to  deplore)  we  regret  to  say  that  we  are 
unable  to  agree ; but  both  works  possess  great  value,  and 
are  illustrated  by  exquisite  engravings  due  to  the  artistic 
skill  of  M.  Jules  Jacquemart. 

The  pottery  and  porcelain  of  Japan  forms  the  subject 
of  a richly  illustrated  work  recently  published,  entitled 
“ Keramic  Art  of  Japan,”  by  G.  A.  Audsley  and  J.  L. 
Bowes. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  numerous  works  that 
have  been  published,  it  is  probable  that  we  have  as  yet 
but  an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  age,  history  and  mean- 
ing of  much  that  appears  in  collections  of  Oriental  por- 
celain; and  until  some  European,  residing  in  China,  well 
versed  in  the  subject,  and  well  acquainted  with  the  Chinese 
language,  has  obtained  access  to  the  stores  of  native  col- 
lectors, we  shall  be  to  a certain  extent  working  in  the 
dark. 

In  1 17 1 we  first  find  any  distinct  mention  of  porcelain 
out  of  China.  In  that  year  Saladin  sent  to  Nur-ed-din  as 
presents,  forty  pieces  of  Chinese  porcelain.  Marco  Polo, 
travelling  in  1280,  visited  one  of  the  sites  of  the  porce- 
lain manufacture,  and  mentions  that  it  was  exported 
all  over  the  world.  It  is  probable  that  he  may  have 
been  the  means  of  calling  the  attention  of  his  country- 
men to  this  production  of  the  far  East.  Many  other 
notices  from  travellers  of  the  14th  and  15th  centuries 


WRITERS  ON  ORIENTAL  ART. 


5 


might  be  cited.  It  was  probably  through  Egypt  that  it 
reached  Europe  ; at  any  rate,  a present  of  porcelain  vases 
was  sent  by  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  in  1487  to  Lorenzo  de 
Medici.  To  the  Portuguese  is  no  doubt  due  the  first 
direct  importation  of  Chinese  wares  into  Europe,  in  which 
they  were  followed  by  the  various  India  Companies  of 
Holland,  England,  France,  Sweden,  &c. 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


Pere  d’Entrecolles. 

Pere  d’Entrecolles,  Missionary  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
arrived  in  China  in  1700,  whence  he  wrote  letters  from 
Jao-tcheou,  in  the  province  of  Feou-leam,  and  King-te- 
tching,  the  imperial  factory  of  porcelain.  He  writes  under 
date  of  Sept.  1st,  1712,  that  while  his  curiosity  would  not 
have  led  him  to  study  the  subject  of  the  production  of 
porcelain,  he  feels  that  it  may  be  of  service  to  Europe, 
and  therefore  avails  himself  of  his  opportunities.  He  not 
only  has  converts  among  the  merchants,  but  also  among 
the  workmen  themselves,  and  collects  all  the  information 
which  they  can  give  him,  keeping  them  continually  on  the 
watch. 

“The  town  of  King-te-tching,”  he  writes,  “is  only  three 
miles  distant  from,  and  a dependance  of  Feou-leam,  which 
is  a dependance  of  Jao-tcheou.  A law  exists  in  China 
that  each  city  shall  preserve  in  writing,  the  history  of  the 
province  in  which  it  lies.  This  history  is  to  include 
the  situation,  extent,  limits  and  nature  of  the  country,  to- 
gether with  the  most  remarkable  places,  manufactures,  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants,  the  persons 
who  are  distinguished  in  arms,  in  letters,  or  for  great 
probity.  Remarkable  women  even  are  recorded  ; for  in- 
stance those  who,  through  attachment  lor  their  deceased 
husbands,  remain  widows.  The  Mandarin  frequently 


IO 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


revises  this  history,  and  adds  or  eliminates  as  he  thinks 
proper.  A strict  record  is  kept  of  all  merchandise  ex- 
ported or  imported. 

The  annals  of  Feou-leam  record,  that  beginning  with 
the  Emperor  Tang-ou-te,  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Tangs 
(A.  D.  442),  workmen  in  porcelain  have  furnished  objects 
to  the  Emperors,  and  that  one  or  two  Mandarins  were  sent 
from  the  Court  to  overlook  their  work.  A description  is 
also  given  of  the  multitude  and  variety  of  the  habitations 
of  the  workmen  who  make  this  Imperial  porcelain,  show- 
ing that  its  manufacture  must  have  reached  at  this  early 
date  considerable  perfection.  The  name  of  the  inventor 
is  not  given,  nor  are  the  experiments  or  chance  which  led 
to  its  discovery.  Originally,  says  the  annals,  porcelain 
was  of  an  exquisite  white,  without  defects.  The  objects 
produced,  which  were  exported  into  other  kingdoms,  were 
known  as  “The  precious  jewels  of  Jao-tcheou.”  And 
further  on  we  read  : “ The  beautiful  porcelain  which  is 

of  a brilliant  white,  and  of  a celestial  blue,  all  comes  from 
King-te-tching.”  That  from  other  factories  is  very  dif- 
ferent, both  in  color  and  quality. 

Aside  from  the  numerous  works  of  pottery  made  every- 
where in  China,  and  which  are  never  called  porcelain,  there 
are  several  provinces  as  Fou-Kien  and  Canton,  where 
porcelain  is  made.  But  strangers  cannot  be  deceived  by 
these  products.  That  of  Fou-Kien  is  always  of  a snow 
white,  without  brilliancy,  never  decorated  with  other  colors. 
All  the  materials  used  at  this  manufactory  were  trans- 
ported by  enterprising  workmen  from  King-te-tching, 
under  the  idea  that  they  would  reap  a rich  harvest  from 
the  commerce  with  Europeans  at  Emouy  ; but  they  were 
never  successful. 

The  present  Emperor  also  brought  workmen  and  all 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


II 


the  materials  for  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  to  Pekin  ; 
they  neglected  nothing  to  make  a success  under  his 
orders,  but  all  their  endeavors  were  in  vain.  Possibly 
reasons  of  interest  may  have  influenced  them,  but  certain 
it  is  that  now  King-te-tching  alone  sends  forth  its  porce- 
lain to  all  parts  of  the  world;  even  Japan  sends  there  to 
purchase. 

King-te-tching  only  needs  to  be  surrounded  by  walls  to 
receive  the  name  of  a city,  and  to  be  compared  with  the 
largest  cities  of  China.  Towns  called  tching  are  few  in 
number,  and  are  such  places  as  have  great  frontage  and 
large  commerce.  They  are  never  surrounded  with  walls, 
perhaps  in  order  not  to  limit  their  growth  as  well  as  to 
facilitate  embarking  and  disembarking  merchandise. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  population  numbers  over  one 
million,  that  each  day  are  consumed  over  ten  thousand 
“ charges  ” of  rice  and  more  than  a thousand  hogs.  There 
are  large  merchants  whose  factories  and  houses  occupy 
an  immense  space  and  contain  a multitude  of  workmen. 

The  town  extends  more  than  three  miles  along  the  bank 
of  a splendid  river,  and  is  not,  as  you  might  imagine,  an 
indiscriminate  mass  of  houses.  The  streets  are  laid  out 
and  cross  each  other  at  regular  intervals  ; every  inch  of 
ground  is  occupied,  in  fact  the  houses  are  too  close  and 
streets  too  narrow ; in  crossing  them  you  think  you  are 
at  a fair;  on  every  side  you  hear  the  cries  of  the  street 
porters  making  their  way  through  the  crowd.  You  see 
many  temples  with  idols  built  at  enormous  expense. 

Living  is  much  more  expensive  at  King-te-tching  than 
at  Jao-tcheou,  because  everything  has  to  bear  the  expense 
of  transportation,  even  to  wood  burnt  in  the  furnaces. 
Nevertheless,  King-te-tching  is  the  asylum  for  numberless 
poor  families,  who  cannot  subsist  in  the  neighboring 


2 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


towns,  for  here  employment  can  be  found  for  young  and 
old,  weak  and  strong;  even  the  blind  and  maimed  can 
make  their  living  grinding  colors.  In  ancient  times,  says 
the  history  of  Feou -learn,  there  were  only  three  hundred 
porcelain  furnaces  at  King-te-tching;  now  there  are  at  least 
three  thousand.  Frequently  fires  occur,  and  therefore 
the  God  of  Fire  has  many  temples,  the  present  Mandarin 
having  built  one.  Not  long  since  eight  hundred  houses 
were  burnt,  but  the  large  profit  the  owners  had  realized 
from  renting  them  caused  their  speedy  recqnstruction. 

The  town  is  situated  in  a plain  surrounded  by  high 
mountains ; the  one  to  the  east,  against  which  the  town  is 
built,  is  outwardly  in  form  of  a semicircle ; and  from  the 
two  adjacent  mountains  issue  two  rivers  which  unite.  One 
is  small,  the  other  very  large,  and  their  confluence  forms 
a magnificent  port  over  three  miles  in  length,  in  a vast 
basin  wherein  the  river  loses  much  of  its  velocity  Fre- 
quently in  this  large  basin  are  moored  two  or  three  rows 
of  barks.  In  entering  the  port  your  sight  is  greeted  with 
immense  volumes  of  smoke  and  flames,  which  mark  the 
outlines  of  the  town  against  the  crescent  of  mountains  in 
the  background,  whose  relative  position  may  perhaps  be 
the  reason  that  King-te-cching  has  surpassed  all  other 
localities  in  the  production  of  porcelain. 

The  policing  of  King-te-tching  is  admirable.  It  is  gov- 
erned by  a Mandarin,  who  appoints  one  or  more  chiefs  in 
each  street  according  to  its  length  ; each  chief  appoints 
ten  subordinates,  each  of  whom  is  responsible  for  ten 
houses.  The  least  disorder  not  immediately  suppressed 
and  reported  condemns  these  subordinates  to  the  basti- 
nado, for  which  the  Mandarin  holds  his  chiefs  strictly  re- 
sponsible. Each  street  has  barricades  which  are  closed  at 
night,  and  guarded  by  a citizen  who  will  admit  no  one 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


13 


without  the  password.  The  Mandarin  of  the  town  makes 
frequent  rounds,  and  occasionally  the  Mandarin  of  Feou- 
leam  accompanies  him.  Strangers  are  not  allowed  to 
sleep  in  the  city,  unless  at  the  house  of  a resident  friend, 
who  is  held  accountable  for  their  conduct. 

Porcelain  in  China  is  generally  called  tseki.  It  is  com- 
posed of  two  kinds  of  earth,  the  one  called  pe-tun-tse 
(a  quartzose  feldspathic  rock),  and  the  other  kao-lin  (a 
hydrous  silicate  of  alumina).  These  two  materials  are 
brought  down  the  river  in  little  flat-bottom  boats,  after 
having  been  made  into  bricks.  The  pe-tun-tse  is  trans- 
ported some  eighty  miles,  and  the  best  quality  is  of  a 
greenish  hue.  It  is  pounded  into  a fine  powder  in 
immense  mortars.  The  kao-lin  is  found  in  mines  in 
lumps  of  about  the  consistence  of  damp  clay.  The  kao- 
lin gives  the  element  of  strength,  and  in  this  connection 
one  of  my  Chinese  friends  tells  me  the  English  or  the 
Dutch  (the  Chinese  name  being  the  same  for  both)  car- 
ried home  some  pe-tun-tse  alone,  thinking  to  make  por- 
celain. Of  course  they  failed,  and  my  friend  laughingly 
said,  “ They  tried  to  produce  a body  in  which  the  flesh 
would  stand  without  bones.” 

Other  barks  also  arrive  at  King-te-tching,  laden  with  a 
white  liquid  called  yeou  (oil),  although  tsi  (varnish) 
would  better  apply,  which  is  made  from  a very  hard 
stone.  It  can  be  produced  from  the  same  stone  as  the 
pe-tun-tse,  selecting  pieces  having  green  spots.  The 
history  of  Feou-leam  says  the  best  stone  for  the  oil  has 
spots  the  color  of  Cyprus  leaves,  or  is  of  a brown  color, 
with  reddish  spots  like  toad-flax.  To  this,  reduced  into 
powder,  is  added  one  per  cent,  of  a mineral  resembling 
alum,  called  che-kao.  Yeou  is  always  mixed  with  ten  per 
cent,  of  an  oil  made  from  the  cinders  of  quicklime  and 


14 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


ferns  burned  together.  Formerly  persimmon  wood  was 
also  burnt  with  the  lime,  but  this  has  become  so  scarce  it 
is  no  longer  used,  which,  perhaps,  is  one  of  the  causes  of 
the  superiority  of  the  ancient  porcelain.  Merchants  who 
sell  the  yeou  frequently  cheat  by  making  it  from  other 
substances,  and  some  manufacturers  use  even  thirty  per 
cent,  of  oil  made  from  cinders,  but  their  products  are  very 
inferior. 

They  say  a porcelain  object  when  finished  has  passed 
through  the  hands  of  seventy  workmen.  Large  objects 
are  made  in  two  pieces,  joined  with  the  same  paste 
moistened,  and  the  joint  polished  inside  and  out  with  a 
knife.  In  this  way  handles,  ears,  and  other  attachments 
are  also  made  and  put  on.  Pieces  of  very  complicated 
forms,  like  animals,  grotesques,  idols  and  beasts,  ordered 
by  Europeans,  are  made  in  several  pieces. 

Flowers  and  ornaments  not  in  relief,  but  which  appear 
to  be  engraved,  are  generally  made  with  stamps  and 
moulds.  Separate  figures  in  relief  are  also  pasted  on.  I 
have  seen  a complicated  piece  copied  by  covering  it  in 
sections  with  moulding  clay,  which  was  then  withdrawn 
and  dried  before  a fire.  Into  these  moulds  the  porcelain 
paste  was  introduced  and  hardened  by  holding  it  before 
the  fire.  The  different  pieces  were  then  joined,  polished, 
finished  with  the  engraver’s  tools,  and  the  mouldings  in 
relief  added.  Then  the  varnish  (sic)  was  applied  and  the 
piece  baked,  after  which  the  object  was  painted,  gilded, 
and  finished  by  a second  baking.  To  fill  large  Euro- 
pean orders  a number  of  moulds  are  made  to  expedite  the 
work. 

The  Hoa-pei  (porcelain  painters),  as  a rule,  are  not 
above  the  common  workmen.  All  the  science  of  these 
painters,  and  in  general  of  all  Chinese  painters,  is  not 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


15 


founded  upon  any  principle,  but  consists  merely  in  a certain 
routine,  aided  by  a limited  imagination.  They  totally  ig- 
nore the  beautiful  laws  of  this  art.  And  yet  they  paint 
flowers,  animals,  and  even  landscapes  on  porcelain,  fans 
and  lanterns  which  are  much  admired.  The  work  of 
painting  is  divided  in  the  laboratory  between  a large  num- 
ber of  workmen.  One  has  the  duty  of  making  the  first 
circle  in  colors  near  the  edge  of  the  piece  ; another  traces 
the  flowers;  another  paints  them ; a fourth  paints  moun- 
tains and  water  ; a fifth  birds  and  other  animals.  Human 
figures  are  generally  the  worst  treated.  However,  the 
reproduction  of  landscapes  and  colored  plans  of  towns 
brought  from  Europe  to  China,  will  not  permit  us  to 
sneer  much  at  their  execution. 

In  the  matter  of  colors  for  porcelain  they  have  a great 
number.  In  Europe  we  generally  see  only  a bright 
blue  on  white  ground  (blue  and  white),  whereas  they 
have  a great  variety.  I have  seen  some  pieces  where 
the  ground  resembled  that  of  our  burning  mirrors.  They 
make  some  of  a solid  red  and  of  different  shades  and 
appearances,  those  of  oily  red  and  red  souffle  having  the 
appearance  of  being  stippled.  When  these  pieces  are 
successful,  which  is  very  seldom,  they  are  highly  prized 
and  command  a large  price.  There  are  also  objects  on 
which  landscapes  are  painted  in  many  colors  and  highly 
relieved  with  gilding ; these  are  made  very  beautiful  if 
you  are  willing  to  pay  a large  price,  but  ordinary  pieces  of 
this  kind  are  not  to  be  compared  with  their  blue  and  white. 
The  annals  of  King-te-tching  say  that  in  ancient  times  the 
people  only  used  white  porcelain  ; this  was  probably  be- 
cause at  that  time  the  stone  was  not  yet  found  near  Jao- 
tcheou  from  which  the  blue  is  made.  That  now  used  for 
fine  pieces  comes  from  a great  distance  and  is  very  costly. 
It  is  reported  that  a Chinese  merchant  was  once  wrecked 


i6 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


on  a desert  coast,  where  he  found  more  riches  than  he  lost, 
his  find  being  an  azure  stone ; he  built  a vessel,  loaded  it 
with  these  stones,  brought  them  home,  and  never  was 
such  a color  seen  before  or  since  at  King-te-tching.  He, 
however,  was  never  able  to  find  his  desert  coast  again. 

Whilst  the  body  porcelain  is  naturally  white,  and  the 
oil  with  which  they  cover  it  increases  this  whiteness,  still 
on  certain  pieces  they  apply  a surface  white  in  combina- 
tion with  other  color  decorations.  This  white  is  made 
from  a transparent  stone,  by  calcination  in  the  furnace,  and 
azure  blue  is  produced  by  the  same  process.  Red  is  made 
from  copperas.  Green  is  made  by  adding  to  an  ounce 
of  white  lead,  and  a half  ounce  of  stone  powder,  three 
ounces  of  what  I think  to  be  the  purest  scales  from 
hammered  copper.  Green  thus  prepared  becomes  the 
matrix  of  violet,  which  is  produced  by  adding  white. 
Yellow  is  made  of  seven  parts  of  white  and  three  of  cop- 
peras. These  colors  do  not  appear  upon  their  application, 
but  only  after  the  second  baking. 

The  oil  red  is  applied  by  mixing  it  with  the  ordinary 
glaze  and  a glaze  made  of  a white  stone.  Perfect  pieces  of 
this  color  are  very  highly  esteemed ; when  struck  they  do 
not  ring.  The  red  souffle  is  made  by  using  a little  tube, 
one  end  of  which  is  covered  with  a very  fine  gauze.  This 
end  is  gently  dipped  into  the  prepared  color,  the  artist 
approaches  it  to  the  object,  and  blows  through  the  other 
end  ; this  is  repeated  until  the  desired  effect  is  produced. 
Such  objects  are  very  rare  and  highly  esteemed.  Black 
porcelain  is  also  esteemed,  and  resembles  our  burning 
mirrors.  Decoration  in  gold  upon  the  black  enriches  the 
color.  Objects  are  also  made  surrounded  by  a shell  of 
open-work,  forming  one  with  the  interior,  which  is  solid.* 


Imitated  at  Sevres  and  other  places. 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


17 


I have  also  seen  porcelain  decorated  with  Chinese  and 
Tartar  female  figures  in  the  most  exquisite  manner,  re- 
sembling enamels. 

If  no  other  glaze  is  used  than  that  made  from  white 
stones,  crackle  ware  is  produced.  The  glaze  gives  a 
grayish  white  color  by  itself,  but  it  will  produce  the  same 
effect  on  pieces  which  have  been  colored.  Gold  is  applied 
with  a brush,  after  mixing  it  with  white  lead  in  gummy 
water.  We  also  find  pieces  where  the  decoration  is  out- 
side the  glaze,  which  is  sometimes  to  hide  defects. 

Before  applying  the  glaze  the  surface  is  smoothed  to  a 
polish  with  a very  fine-haired  brush,  which  is  passed  and 
repassed  over  it.  Great  skill  is  required  in  glazing  very 
thin  porcelain.  The  interior  is  first  sprinkled  with  the  glaze 
and  allowed  to  dry,  after  which  the  outside  is  dipped 
into  it.  The  bottom  is  left  solid  during  this  operation ; 
it  is  then  hollowed  out  on  the  wheel ; a colored  circle, 
and  sometimes  a Chinese  letter,  is  painted  upon  it,  the 
glaze  is  applied  and  the  piece  is  ready  for  the  furnace. 

Objects  for  export  to  Europe  are  mostly  made  upon  new 
models,  often  whimsical  and  difficult  to  execute.  If  they 
are  not  a success  the  European  agents  will  not  receive 
them,  and  the  factory  has  to  make  the  loss,  for  the  Chinese 
will  not  purchase  objects  so  different  from  their  taste. 
Some  of  those  made  for  the  Chinese  are  also  very  re- 
markable; the  Heir  Apparent  ordered  a large  lantern 
made  in  one  piece  of  openwork,  so  that  when  a lamp  was 
placed  inside  it  illuminated  the  whole  room  ; a little  musi- 
cal instrument  like  an  organ,  about  a foot  high,  with  four- 
teen pipes,  was  made  for  him,  but  it  was  not  a success. 
They  make  flutes  and  flageolets  successfully,  and  a musi- 
cal instrument  formed  of  little  plaques  of  porcelain,  giving 
different  sounds  when  struck.  They  also  make  grotesque 


i8 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


animals,  turtles,  ducks,  etc.  I saw  a painted  porcelain  cat 
with  eyes  formed  of  holes  through  which  shone  the  light 
from  a lamp.  Many  statues  of  the  goddess  Kouan-in 
holding  a child  in  her  arms  are  made.  Also  objects  of 
porcelain  which  are  very  delicate  and  thin,  but  neverthe-* 
less  are  moulded  into  most  difficult  shapes;  to  effect 
this,  the  interior  is  shaped  on  the  wheel,  glazed  and 
baked ; the  object  is  again  placed  on  the  wheel,  and  the 
exterior  worn  away  by  grinding  until  the  desired  thinness 
is  obtained,  when  the  exterior  is  also  glazed,  and  the  piece 
is  painted,  glazed  and  again  baked.  Attempts  to  make 
plaques  larger  than  one  foot  square,  for  European  orders, 
have  always  failed. 

It  is  related  that  once  upon  a time  an  Emperor  ordered 
objects  of  porcelain  to  be  made  of  a design  which  he  fur- 
nished ; it  was  found  impossible,  but  as  the  Emperors  of 
China,  during  their  life-time,  are  the  most  redoubtable  of  the 
Chinese  divinities,  and  always  believe  their  every  wish  must 
be  satisfied,  the  Mandarins  redoubled  their  bastinados, 
and  the  poor  artists  redoubled  their  efforts.  But  it  was  all 
in  vain,  until,  finally,  one  of  the  poor  wretches,  despairing, 
threw  himself  into  his  furnace  and  fed  the  flames  with  his 
brain  and  body.  The  sacrifice  was  accepted,  and  when 
the  furnace  was  opened,  the  porcelain  had  assumed  the  de- 
sired design,  and  the  Emperor  was  satisfied.  The  poor 
wretch  became  a hero,  and  in  the  shape  of  an  idol  now 
presides  over  all  the  porcelain  factories. 

The  Chinese  are  great  antiquarians ; indeed,  in  this  re- 
spect they  surpass  all  other  nations.  The  date-marks 
upon  porcelain  can  scarcely  be  relied  upon,  and  much  of 
the  finest  antique  porcelain  bears  no  mark  at  all.  Hence 
the  antiquarian  has  to  rely  upon  his  taste,  and  select  his 
gems  by  form  and  color.  Of  course  tradition  bears  its 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


19 


value;  thus  the  smallest  object  of  pottery  used  by  the 
Emperors  Yao  or  Chun,  who  reigned  several  centuries 
before  the  Tangs,  under  whom  the  fifst  porcelain  was 
made  for  the  Emperors,  commands  in  China  an  enormous 
price.  The  annals  of  King-te-tching  inform  us  that  in 
ancient  times,  as  at  present,  objects  of  various  prices  were 
produced  ; thus  certain  urns  are  mentioned,  each  of  which 
was  sold  for  fifty-nine  taels,  that  is  eighty  ecus.* 

The  present  Mandarin  of  King-te-tching,  who  is  my 
friend,  yearly  presents  to  his  protectors  at  the  Court, 
beautiful  specimens  of  old  porcelain,  for  the  making 
whereof  he  possesses  great  talent.  I had  recently  pre- 
sented to  me  a small  plate,  on  which  was  a painting  of  a 
crucifix  between  the  Virgin  and  Saint  John,  and  I am  told 
that  such  paintings  were  made  to  fill  orders  from  Japan, 
but  these  orders  had  ceased  since  1696. 

Mending  porcelain  is  an  important  business  in  China ; 
workmen  use  the  diamond  to  drill  little  holes,  and  with  a 
very  thin  brass  wire  they  draw  the  pieces  together  so  that 
the  break  is  hardly  noticeable. 

One  of  the  favorite  colors  of  ancient  times,  now  coun- 
terfeited, is  the  sea-green,  made  by  mixing  with  the  glaze 
an  oil  made  from  a yellow  stone.  Pieces  so  decorated  are 
made  very  thick,  and  after  baking  they  are  thrown  into  a 
greasy  bouillon  made  from  capons  and  other  meats,  where 
they  are  again  baked ; after  this,  for  a month  or  more, 
they  are  left  in  the  filthiest  sink  that  can  be  found,  and  then 
they  come  forth  three  or  four  hundred  years  old  ! 

The  Chinese  renew  the  brilliancy  of  the  gilding  on  por- 
celain which  has  become  dull  from  the  lapse  of  time,  by 

*An  ecu  equals  $1.20,  and  in  1712  had  about  five  times  its  money 
value  of  to-day;  this  would  make  each  of  these  objects  cost  about 
$500. 


20 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


moistening  it  with  clear  water  and  rubbing  it  with  an 
agate,  being  careful  always  to  rub  in  the  same  direction. 
To  strengthen  the  edges  of  porcelain  dishes  the  potter 
applies  with  a brush  a coat  of  glaze  in  which  is  mixed  a 
proportion  of  the  pulverized  charcoal  of  bamboo ; this 
preparation  when  applied  has  a grayish  appearance,  but 
after  burning  becomes  perfectly  white. 

I have  already  spoken  of  the  Red  Souffle,  but 
neglected  to  mention  the  Blue  Souffle,  which  is  much 
easier  to  produce.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  why  gold  and 
silver  should  not  be  treated  in  the  same  manner  except 
the  expense.*  Not  long  since  the  Emperor  ordered  some 
pieces  so  thin  and  delicate  that  they  could  not  be  clipped 
into  the  glaze ; they  were  handled  with  cotton  for  fear  of 
breaking,  and  the  glaze  was  blown  upon  them  after  the 
manner  of  the  Souffle. 

Quite  recently  a new  material  has  been  found  which 
can  be  substituted  for  the  kaolin ; it  is  called  hoa-che , and 
is  a kind  of  stone,  or  rather  chalk,  of  about  the  consistence 
of  hard  soap.  Porcelain  made  of  this  material  is  very 
expensive ; it  is  very  brittle  and  difficult  to  bake,  but  offers 
the  most  desirable  surface  for  the  artist  to  paint,  and  retains 
the  colors  perfectly.  For  this  reason  frequently  the  body 
of  the  piece  is  made. of  common  material,  and  a surface  of 
this  hoa-che  is  obtained  by  dipping  the  piece  into  a liquid 
preparation  of  it.  It  is  also  much  lighter  than  the  ordinary 
porcelain.  Where  the  kaolin  costs  but  twenty  sous  the 
hoa-che  costs  an  £cu.  Another  use  of  this  hoa-che  is  very 
beautiful  in  effect;  after  it  is  prepared  in  little  grains  it 
is  diluted  with  water  to  the  consistence  of  paste,  and  by 
means  of  a brush,  tracings  are  made  on  the  surface  of 
objects  before  they  are  glazed;  after  glazing  and  baking 


*Gold  has  been  so  treated. 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


21 


these  tracings  appear  of  a different  whiteness  from  the 
body  of  the  porcelain.  This  whiteness  of  the  hoa-che  is 
called  siam-ya-pe}  or  white  of  ivory.  The  chekao  (a 
mineral  resembling  alum)  is  used  in  the  same  way  for 
white  tracings,  but  it  cannot,  like  the  hoa-che,  be  substi- 
tuted for  kaolin  in  the  body  of  the  porcelain. 

I have  not  yet  spoken  of  a glaze  called  tse-kinveou 
(brownish  gold)  : it  would  be  better  named  the  color  of 
bronze,  or  of  coffee,  or  of  dead  leaves  ; this  glaze  is  a new 
invention. 

Sometimes  cups  are  made  with  the  ordinary  clear  glaze 
inside  and  the  tse-kin  (color  of  dead  leaves)  outside ; also 
vases  and  cups  where  the  principal  glaze  is  the  tse-kin ; 
but  medallions  are  left  to  be  otherwise  decorated  by 
applying  pieces  of  wet  paper  to  the  object,  dipping  the 
object  in  the  tse-kin,  and,  when  nearly  dry,  removing  the 
paper ; this  leaves  white  medallions,  which  are  decorated 
to  suit  the  fancy,  then  the  object  is  glazed  and  baked.  I 
have  seen  this  year  porcelain  of  an  olive  color  which  is 
quite  a-la-mode.  It  is  is  called  long-tsivem . 

A kind  of  glaze  called  tsoui-yeou  produces  immeasur- 
able little  cracks  over  the  surface  when  applied  alone;  it 
renders  the  object  very  brittle  and  destroys  its  ringing  tone 
when  struck,  but  when  mixed  with  other  glazes  it  does 
not.  The  mixture  used  to  produce  the  peculiar  black 
resembling  our  burning  mirrors  carries  its  own  glaze  and 
requires  the  most  careful  baking  ; pieces  of  this  color  must 
be  placed  in  the  very  centre  of  the  furnace  where  the  heat  is 
most  uniform. 

It  seems  to  be  the  general  belief  that  the  production  of 
the  violet  color  and  the  art  of  gilding  date  back  to 
1700*  only. 

* There  are  many  specimens  of  both  violet  color  and  gilding  of 
an  earlier  date  in  the  Museum  at  Dresden. 


22 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


In  the  present  year  (1722)  on  account  of  orders  from 
Europe,  vases  have  been  made  more  than  three  feet  in 
height.  This  had  been  considered  impossible  ; they  were 
made,  however,  in  three  pieces,  which  were  so  nicely  united 
that  you  could  not  discover  the  joints.  Of  eighty  vases  of 
this  description  placed  in  the  kiln  only  eight  succeeded, 
the  others  proving  a total  loss. 

I have  been  presented  with  a piece  called  yao-pien 
(transmutation)  which  is  the  result  of  either  a defect  in 
preparation  or  an  excess  of  heat.  Whilst  this  piece  is  a re- 
jected one  it  is  to  me  very  beautiful,  resembling  agate,  and 
no  doubt  at  some  future  day  what  was  this  time  produced 
by  chance  will  be  made  by  design. 

On  some  few  pieces,  generally  common  ones,  colors  are 
applied  without  glaze,  or  over  the  glaze.  Indeed,  some 
colors  are  always  applied  thus  (as  vermilion)  which  can- 
not be  baked,  because  they  disappear  when  subjected  to 
heat.  When  it  is  desired  to  cover  the  entire  surface  of  a 
vase  with  color,  it  is  simply  dipped  into  a solution  of  the 
proper  preparation.  Some  artists,  after  the  color  is  applied, 
trace  figures  with  a long  needle  on  the  dried  surface,  and, 
after  being  glazed,  these  figures  seem  to  have  been 
painted. 

There  is  not  as  much  work  as  you  would  imagine  in 
producing  reliefs  of  flowers,  dragons,  or  other  figures  ; it 
is  done  by  tracing  on  the  flat  surface  with  a graver,  the 
desired  figures,  then  the  intermediate  clay  is  removed,  the 
object  is  glazed  and  the  figures  appear  in  relief.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  use  the  black  Chinese  ink  in  painting, 
but  without  success,  for  after  baking,  the  objects  were 
found  perfectly  white.” 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


23 


M.  Stanislas  Julien. 

“ The  ancient  chronicles  of  China  cite  the  Emperor 
Hoang-ti  as  the  inventor  of  pottery,  and  date  his  reign 
from  2698  B.  C.  During  this  reign  there  is  mention  of 
an  Intendant  of  Potteries  named  Ning-fong-tse.  Later 
we  read  that  in  the  year  2255  B.  C.,  Chun,  before  be- 
coming emperor,  made  pottery  near  Thing-thao,  in  the 
province  of  Shan-tung.  Authors  generally  agree  that 
vases  of  burnt  earthenware  originated  during  this  reign, 
and  continued  to  be  called  Pi-khi  (vases  of  pottery)  until 
ths  Thsin  and  Han  dynasties  (249-202  B.  C.)  From 
this  and  other  facts  we  conclude  that  porcelain  was  not 
invented  until  the  time  of  the  Han  dynasty,  when  it 
appeared  in  the  Sin-p’ing  district,  founded  185  B.  C.  by 
the  Emperor  Kao-ti.  For  many  years  progress  in  its 
manufacture  seems  to  have  been  very  slow,  as  the  next 
mention  we  find  is  under  the  first  of  the  Wei'  (A.  D.  220- 
264),  when  it  reappeared  in  the  province  of  Shen-se  and 
at  Lo-yang  in  Hou-nan.#  We  find  under  the  Tsins  (A.  D. 
265-419)  the  bare  fact  mentioned  that  for  a long  time  por- 
celain had  been  made  at  Wen-Tcheou-Fou,  in  the  province 
of  Tche-Kiang. 

The  next  date  is  that  of  A.  D.  583,  in  the  period  Tchi- 
te  of  the  Tchins,  when  a royal  decree  ordered  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  country  where  is  now  located  King-te-tching, 
to  make  porcelain  for  the  use  of  the  Emperor.  From  this 
period  (A.  D.  583)  we  find  mentioned  the  names  of  work- 
men and  their  specialties.  Thus  Ho-tcheou  (A.  D.  581- 
618)  was  celebrated  for  making  vases  of  a beautiful  green 
color,  and  the  works  of  Thao-yu  were  called  “vases  of 
artificial  jade.” 

In  the  period  Wou-te  (A.  D.  621),  Ho-thong-thsou 
made  porcelain,  with  a white  matrix,  as  brilliant  as  jade. 


24 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


He  was  from  Sin-p’ing  in  Ho-nan  where  the  first  porcelain 
was  produced.  For  over  three  centuries  we  find  no 
mention  of  any  special  artist ; but  about  A.  D.  954,  in  the 
period  Hien-te,  the  Emperor  Tchi-tsong  issued  an  order 
that  porcelain  for  the  use  of  the  palace  should  be  made 
the  color  of  the  “ sky  seen  between  the  clouds  after  rain 
hence  the  name  Yu-kouo-thien-tsing  (blue  of  the  sky 
after  rain).  Chinese  authors  say  this  porcelain  was  “as 
blue  as  the  sky,  brilliant  as  a mirror,  thin  as  paper,  reso- 
nant as  a Khing  (musical  instrument),  polished  and  brilliant, 
and  was  distinguished  as  much  for  the  fineness  of  its 
crackle  as  for  the  beauty  of  its  color.”  These  objects 
were  so  much  prized  in  after  years  that  the  fragments 
were  worn  as  amulets. 

About  the  same  period  (A.  D.  960)  lived  the  brothers 
Tchang.  The  elder  used  a brown  paste  and  made  objects 
very  thin  of  dark  and  light  blue ; the  enamel,  beauti- 
fully crackled,  had  the  appearance  of  fishes’  eggs.  During 
the  years  1275  to  1279,  under  the  Tsongs,  artists  tried  in 
vain  to  imitate  his  work.  The  younger  brother  made 
pieces  of  the  same  colors,  but  not  crackled ; his  enamel 
appeared  to  be  sprinkled  with  dew.  Also  under  the 
Tsongs,  from  960  to  1126,  a family  called  Tseou  made 
vases  “ thin,  brilliant,  of  a surpassing  whiteness,  and  of 
pure  and  graceful  forms.”  During  the  same  period,  at 
the  village  of  Liu-ling,  lived  a father  and  daughter  named 
Chu,  who  produced  curiosities  in  porcelain,  such  as  birds, 
animals,  etc.  The  daughter  surpassed  the  father  in  work- 
manship. When  the  Tsongs  passed  into  the  south,  a 
magistrate  established,  in  the  new  capital,  about  1127,  a 
small  factory,  and  made  from  a very  pure  clay  pieces 
brilliant  in  color  with  transparent  enamel.  From  1260  to 
I349»  under  the  Mongols,  we  find  only  one  maker  men- 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


25 


tioned,  Pong-kiun-pao.  He  was  at  first  a gilder,  but 
afterwards  made  very  thin  vases  of  a solid  blue  color,  in 
imitation  of  the  ancient  Ting  vases. 

We  now  reach  the  Ming  dynasty  (1368-1649),  under 
whom  all  the  arts  attained  their  highest  development. 
The  first  artist  mentioned  is  Lo,  in  the  period  Siouen-te 
(1426-1435),  who  made  vases  decorated  with  cricket  fights, 
a favorite  amusement  of  the  period.  Two  sisters,  named 
Sieou,  also  produced  the  same  subjects  with  the  sketches 
engraved  in  the  paste.  Under  Tching-hoa  (1465-1487) 
vases  and  jars  decorated  with  peonies  and  chickens  were 
produced,  and  the  supply  of  azure  blue  was  exhausted. 
Under  Tching-te  (1506-1522)  cobalt  blue,  “ Hoei-tsing,”* 
was  discovered,  and,  by  command,  used  to  decorate  the 
imperial  porcelain.  This  Hoei-tsing  was  crushed  with 
hammers.  The  finest  quality  showed  bright  red  spots, 
the  second  little  silvered  flakes.  It  was  also  called 
“ great  blue  ” and  “ blue  of  the  head  of  Buddha.” 

From  1522  to  1572  the  work  of  a very  skilful  artist, 
Tsoui-kong,  was  much  sought  after,  who  imitated  success- 
fully the  old  pieces.  But  the  master  imitator  was  Tcheou- 
tan-thsiouen,  who  lived  in  the  reigns  of  Long-khing 
(1567-1572)  and  Wan-li  (1573-1619).  He  worked  at 
King-te-tching,  and  produced  a great  variety  of  objects, 
much  sought  after  by  connoisseurs  and  bought  at  fabulous 
prices.  It  is  told  of  him  that,  once  on  a visit  to  Thang,  the 
president  of  the  sacrifices,  he  asked  permission  to  examine 
carefully  a tripod  of  porcelain  which  Thang  valued  very 
highly.  He  measured  it  carefully  with  bis  hands  and  took 
impressions  of  its  surface  upon  sheets  of  paper,  which 
he  hid  in  his  sleeve.  Six  months  after  he  revisited 

* The  Chinese  have  never  disclosed  the  nature  of  this  beautiful 
color. 


26 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


Thang,  and  drawing  from  his  sleeve  a tripod,  said, 
“ Your  excellency  possesses  a tripod  in  white  porcelain 
by  Ting ; I also  have  one.”  Thang  was  overwhelmed 
with  astonishment,  and  assured  himself  the  two  were  the 
same  in  every  detail.  Tcheou  then  added,  “ I do  not  wish 
to  deceive  you  ; mine  is  but  an  imitation  of  yours,  made 
from  measurements  taken  six  months  ago.”  Thang, 
satisfied  of  the  truth  of  this,  bought  the  reproduction  for 
sixty  dollars,  and  very  soon  afterwards  sold  it  to  Thou- 
Khieou  for  fifteen  hundred. 

In  the  period  Wan-li  (1573-1619)  lived  another  distin- 
guished imitator  of  ancient  works,  Ngeou-Kong.  His  prin- 
cipal reproductions  were  the  crackled  porcelain  of  the  elder 
Tchang,  the  “ porcelain  of  the  Magistrates”  and  of  Kiun. 
In  the  same  period  lived  Ou-in-tao-jin  (the  old  man  who 
lives  in  retreat).  He  made  bowls  decorated  with  diapered 
clouds,  and  the  celebrated  egg-shell  porcelain  cups,  each  of 
which  weighed  only  three-quarters  of  a gramme,  and  com- 
manded any  price.  He  also  made  vases  called  Ou,  of  a 
pale  blue,  and  imitated  the  works  of  the  Tchangs,  except- 
ing the  crackle.  He  also  made  vases  which  were  purple 
in  color  or  like  “ dead  leaves.”  Under  every  piece  he 
signed  his  full  name.  In  the  period  Khang-hi  (1662-1722) 
an  oily  clay  was  used  which  produced  very  thin  porce- 
lain. The  principal  colors  of  its  decoration  were  green 
of  the  serpent’s  skin,  eel  yellow,  azure  blue,  and  yellow 
spotted.  Vases  were  made  on  which  the  enamel  was  of 
a pale  yellow,  pale  violet,  pale  green,  and  of  red  or  blue 
soufh6.  In  the  period  Yong-tching  (1723-1735)  they  made 
at  King-te-tching,  pieces  of  the  color  of  an  egg  as  bril- 
liant as  silver,  also  of  solid  blue  and  other  colors,  and  a 
few  were  decorated  with  flowers  in  relief,  engraved  or  flat. 

The  period  Keen-long  (1736-1795)  commenced  the 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


27 


renaissance  of  Chinese  ceramic  art.  In  1728  Thang- 
kong  was  employed  under  the  Assistant  Director  Nien 
at  King-te-tching  and  very  soon  infused  new  life  into 
the  work.  He  produced  excellent  imitations  of  ancient 
pieces,  and  invented  many  new  ones.  His  colors  were 
pure  and  his  execution  excellent.  Understanding  thor- 
oughly the  nature  of  the  stones  and  clays,  he  used  them 
to  the  best  advantage.  He  had  also  mastered  the  intri- 
cacies of  the  ovens,  and  reproduced  all  the  fine  enamels. 
The  Emperor  by  special  decree  directed  him  to  illustrate 
the  manufacture  of  porcelain  by  twenty-two  plates. 

Marks. 

The  Chinese  use  two  distinct  kinds  of  marks  on  their 
porcelain:  the  one,  the  Chinese  name  of  the  reigning 
emperor,  thus  fixing  the  date  of  production  between 
certain  years ; the  other,  individual  marks,  such  as  the 
name  of  the  producer  or  the  factory,  the  destination  of 
the  object,  or  some  figure  or  outline  in  color  or  enamel. 
When  Tchin-tsong  founded  King-te-tching  he  ordered 
that  every  piece  of  porcelain  should  bear  under  its  foot 
the  words  King-te-nein-tchi , “ made  in  the  years  King-te.” 
This  was  continued  for  over  six  hundred  years,  when 
suddenly,  in  1677,  Tchang-tsi-tchong,  the  prefect  of  the 
district,  forbade  the  custom,  saying,  in  case  an  object  were 
broken,  the  emperor  wrhose  name,  or  the  saint  whose 
likeness,  was  painted  upon  it,  would  have  just  cause  to 
consider  his  memory  profaned. 

Under  the  Ming  dynasty  from  1368  to  1649,  the  manu- 
facture of  porcelain  made  great  advances,  the  emperors  of 
this  dynasty  being  all  patrons  of  art.  Under  this  dynasty, 
in  the  reign  of  Siouen-te  (1426-1435),  the  finest  objects 
were  made.  Belonging  to  this  period  we  find  vases  whose 


28 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


handles  are  decorated  with  a red  fish.  An  extremely 
small  flower  painted  in  dull  color  in  the  centre  of  a cup  is 
a mark  of  this  period  Combats  of  crickets  were  a favorite 
decoration;  a young  girl  is  especially  mentioned  who 
incised  these  combats  beautifully  in  the  paste.  Enamelled 
vases  were  made  to  imitate  the  skin  of  the  Kio  (a  kind  of 
sweet  orange).  When  this  is  found  in  the  bottom  of  white 
cups  it  is  of  dull  color.  An  extremely  small  phoenix  and 
dragon  in  enamel  are  found  on  objects  made  in  this  period 
for  the  use  of  the  Emperor,  also  some  pieces  on  which  are 
represented  cock  fights. 

The  reign  ranking  second  among  the  Mings  for  its  por- 
celain is  that  of  Tching-hoa  (1465-1487).  To  this  period 
belong  objects  on  which  are  painted  a hen  with  her  chicks, 
cock  fights,  a kind  of  grasshopper,  also  objects  with 
grapes  in  enamel  or  with  the  fruit  of  the  nelumbium  speci- 
osum,  indicating  vases  for  wine ; and  objects  with  the 
flower  peony-moutan  sheltering  a hen  with  her  chicks. 
This  flower  was  also  painted  on  porcelain  of  Ting-tcheou 
made  in  the  first  years  of  the  Tsongs  (960-1279). 

The  porcelain  of  the  Mings  ranking  third  was  that  of  the 
period  Yong-lo  (1403-1424).  To  this  period  belong  vases 
with  two  lions  rolling  a bail,  painted  in  the  centre.  These 
pieces  were  of  first  quality.  Paintings  of  two  mandarin 
ducks  in  the  centre  of  bowls  or  cups  indicated  pieces  of 
second  quality.  A flower  painted  in  the  centre  of  cups 
marked  pieces  of  third  quality. 

The  reign  ranking  fourth  is  that  of  Kia-tsing  (1522- 
1566).  The  word  “ wine  ” written  in  the  centre  of  a little 
white  cup  indicated  that  it  was  used  by  the  Emperor, 
and  the  words  “decoction  of  jujubes,”  and  “decoction  of 
ginger,”  were  a mark  of  the  poorest  quality  used  by  the 
Emperor.  The  word  “ tea  ” in  enamel  on  the  centre  of 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


29 


a white  cup  marked  it  for  the  Emperor’s  use,  and  was  of 
first  quality. 

To  the  reign  of  Long-khing  (1567-1572),  and  to  that  of 
Wan-li  (1573-1619),  belongs  the  porcelain  decorated  with 
paintings  called  Pi-hi , or  jeux-secrets.  Also  vases  of  the 
fine  red  color  tsi-hong  (red  of  the  sky  after  rain,  or  of 
the  sacrifice  known  as  “ sang-de-boeuf  ”),  in  imitation  of 
the  beautiful  tsi-hong  color  of  the  Siouen-te  period  (1426- 
1435).  These  vases  are  called  Long-yao , because  they 
were  made  at  the  imperial  factory  in  the  district  of  Long. 
This  color  has  been  much  imitated  recently.  The  words 
“leaves  of  the  bamboo,”  or  “bouquet  of  epidendrums  ” 
were  the  mark  of  vases  painted  with  blue  flowers  at  King- 
te-tching  during  this  period  ; the  four  characters  signifying 
the  “Monk  living  in  retreat,”  mark  vases  made  during 
this  reign.  Other  date  marks  of  the  Mings  found  on 
porcelain  are  Hong-wou  (1368-1396),  and  Tching-te 
(1506-1521). 

Factories. 

The  names  of  no  less  than  fifty-seven  manufactories  of 
porcelain  are  recorded.  In  locating  these  we  will  use  the 
eighteen  provinces  into  which  the  Central  Empire  was 
divided  under  the  reign  of  Keen-long,  thirteen  of  which 
contained  porcelain  factories. 

I.  In  the  province  of  Chi-li  there  are  five.  The  most 
important  is  that  of  Ting-tcheou,  founded  soon  after  A.  D. 
960,  under  the  Northern  Tsongs  (960-1126),  during  which 
period  the  best  work  was  made.  Pieces  are  mentioned 
in  colored  enamels,  white,  red,  violet,  and  black,  also 
pieces  with  tracings  of  flowers  and  in  solid  colors. 

II.  In  the  province  of  Kiang-nan  five  factories  are 
named.  The  only  one  worthy  of  mention  is  So-tcheou, 


30 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


where  they  imitated  with  great  success  the  porcelain  of 
Ting-tcheou,  also  of  the  period  of  the  Tsongs. 

III.  In  Shan-se  there  were  five,  none  of  which  produced 
very  fine  work. 

IV.  In  Chan-tong  there  were  two  factories. 

V.  In  the  province  of  Ho-nan  there  were  thirteen. 
Four  of  these,  Hoai-khing-fou,  Chen-tcheou,  I-yang,  and 
Teng-fong,  were  founded  during  the  period  of  the  Mings 
(1368-1644),  and  are  still  producing.  At  Sin-p’ing  the 
first  recorded  porcelain  was  made  between  the  years  185 
B.  C.  and  A.  D.  88.  The  finest  objects  were  made  at  Jou- 
tcheou,  founded  under  the  Tsongs.  It  was  here  they 
produced  the  “ blue  of  the  sky  after  rain.” 

The  accepted  judges  of  to-day  rank  the  different  porcelains  as 
follows : 

1st.  Tch’a'i-yao  (Tch’ai  being  the  family  name  of  the  Emperor 
Chi-tsong),  or  porcelain  of  Tch’ai  made  at  Jou-tcheou  in  Honan. 

2d.  Jou-yao,  or  porcelain  made  at  Jou-tcheou  in  Honan. 

3d.  Kouan-yao,  or  porcelain  of  the  magistrates,  made  at  Hang 
in  Tche-Kiang. 

4th.  Ko-yao,  or  porcelain  of  the  eldest  son,  that  is  of  Tchang, 
the  eldest. 

5th.  Ting-yao,  those  of  Ting-tcheou. 

The  Tch’ai  porcelain  has  long  since  passed  out  of  commerce, 
and  if  even  a fragment  is  found  it  is  worn  as  an  amulet.  An  ancient 
author  says  of  it:  “The  fragments  of  Tch’ai  porcelain  dazzled 
your  eyes  like  precious  stones,  and  its  rays  turned  aside  the  fatal 
arrow.”  Such  expressions  indicate  how  much  this  porcelain  was 
esteemed. 

VI.  In  the  province  of  Shen-se  were  four  factories,  of 
which,  Yao-tcheou  was  noted  for  its  white  under  the 
Tsongs,  and  Hien-yang  furnished  porcelain  to  the  em- 
perors under  the  Wei  (A.  D.  220-265). 

VII.  In  the  province  of  Kan-souh  there  was  one 
factory. 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


31 


VIII.  In  the  province  of  Tche-keang  were  eight, 
among  which  were  noted  : A factory  in  the  department  of 
Hang-tcheou-fou,  where,  between  the  years  A.  D.  1004- 
1126,  were  produced  the  celebrated  crackled  pieces  known 
as  Kouan-yao,  or  for  the  use  of  magistrates.  A factory  in 
the  department  of  Chao-hing-fou,  at  Yu-yao,  made  the 
celebrated  porcelain  called  Pi-se-tse  or  porcelain  of  hid- 
den color,  because  it  was  made  for  the  emperors  alone 
(A.  D.  1 1 27-1 279).  The  factory  of  Long-thsiouen,  which 
existed  in  960,  and  where,  in  1279,  Sing-eul  produced  his 
work.  This  factory  gave  its  name  to  the  very  celebrated 
porcelain  called  Long-thsiouen,  which  is  now  imitated  at 
King-te-tching.  Pere  d’Entrecolles  says  “ this  porcelain 
was  mentioned  as  olive  green,  but  some  of  it  is  certainly 
light  and  dark  blue.” 

IX.  In  the  province  of  Keang-si  there  were  eight  fac- 
tories, only  one  of  which  produced  remarkable  work. 
This  was  King-te-tching,  where  porcelain  was  made  as 
early  as  A.  D.  583,  and  which  in  1004  was  named  “ The 
Imperial  Factory.”  It  soon  outstripped  all  competitors, 
and  to  the  present  day  has  continued  to  produce  every 
variety  of  work  from  the  cheapest  to  the  most  expensive. 

X.  In  the  province  of  Sze-chuen  only  one  factory  is 
mentioned. 

XI.  In  the  province  of  Fuh-keen  we  find  two  barely 
mentioned,  one  founded  previous  to  1200,  and  the  other 
about  1368. 

XII.  The  province  of  Kwang-tong  had  but  one  fac- 
tory. 

XIII.  The  province  of  ITou-nan  had  two,  one  estab- 
lished about  A.  D.  960,  the  other  previous  to  A.  D.  618. 


32 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


Porcelain  made  at  King-te-tchi'ng. 

The  History  of  Feou-leam,  the  district  to  which  King- 
te-tching  belongs,  published  first  in  1325,  in  enumerating 
the  quantity  of  porcelain  furnished  to  the  Emperor,  re- 
counts that  there  were  thirty-one  thousand  dishes  with 
flowers  ; sixteen  thousand  white  plates  with  blue  dragons ; 
eighteen  thousand  four  hundred  cups  for  wine,  with  flowers 
and  two  dragons  in  the  clouds  ; eleven  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dishes  of  white  ground  with  blue  flowers, 
and  dragons,  holding  the  two  words  Fo  (happiness)  and 
Cheou  (longevity)  in  their  claws.  King-te-tching  porcelain 
has  been  celebrated  since  the  time  of  the  Tchin  (A.  D. 
557-588),  or  nearly  four  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  it 
was  made  the  imperial  factory. 

The  vases,  which  were  made  of  selected  material  and 
finely  finished  at  King-te-tching,  were  called  Kouan-kou 
or  “ vases  of  the  magistrates.”  They  are  of  various  shapes 
and  decoration,  and  have  received  this  name  because 
they  are  worthy  of  being  used  by  the  magistrates.  These 
objects  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  “ porcelain  of 
the  magistrates,”  made  under  the  Tsongs(A.  D.  960-1279), 
at  Pien,  in  Ho-nan,  and  at  Hang,  in  Tche-keang.  Objects 
are  made  at  King-te-tching  which  are  first  glazed  on  one 
side,  after  which  the  body  paste  is  ground  to  exceeding 
thinness,  and  even  in  some  cases  entirely  removed,  thus 
leaving  an  object  formed  of  glaze  alone.  Objects  made 
for  the  foreign  market  are  known  as  “ objects  of  the  seas,” 
and  nearly  all  are  sent  to  Canton,  to  be  sold  to  the  “devils 
of  the  seas,”  by  which  title  Europeans  and  Americans  are 
known.  “ The  Book  about  Tea”  (Tch’a-king)  tells  us  that 
yellow  cups  are  not  desirable  for  tea,  as  they  give  it  a 
brown  appearance. 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


33 


The  year  A.  D.  583  is  the  earliest  date  mentioned  in 
connection  - with  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  at  King- 
te-tching.  About  A.  D.  618,  Thao  and  Yo  produced 
objects  of  thin  body,  white  and  brilliant. 

The  Memoirs  called  Tsiang-ki  tell  us  that  under  the 
Youens  (1260-1368)  they  made  vases  of  a perfect  white, 
without  defect,  and  also  of  blue.  Further  on  we  read  that 
at  the  same  period  they  had  the  knowledge  of  moulding, 
painting  and  engraving  flowers  on  porcelain,  and  made  ob- 
jects for  the  use  of  the  Emperor,  in  the  interior  of  which  were 
painted  the  words  “ for  the  palace.”  These  pieces  were 
mostly  very  thin,  with  a small  base  and  with  mouldings  of 
flowers.  There  were  some,  however,  relieved  with  gold  or 
decorated  with  enamelled  flowers.  We  find  mentioned 
vases,  dishes,  basins  and  bowls.  The  same  memoirs  men- 
tion a black-yellow  porcelain  which  was  made  about  the 
same  time  at  Hou-tien,  a village  situated  on  the  same  river 
as  King-te-tching. 

In  the  Ming  period  Hong-wou  (1368-1398)  we  find 
mentioned  thin  porcelain  of  a fine  oily  paste  which  was 
in  color  white,  blue  or  black;  bottles  and  bowls,  blue- 
black,  relieved  with  gold.  It  is  related  that  before  decor- 
ating and  glazing,  the  crude  objects  were  allowed  to  stand 
for  a year. 

Period  Yong-lo  (1403-1424),  the  following:  Objects 
pure  white,  and  others  engraved  with  a point ; vases  for 
sacrifices ; cups  with  turned-down  edges,  inside  of  which 
are  painted  two  lions  playing  with  a ball  (mark  of  the  best 
quality)  ; the  same  with  two  birds  (very  good)  ; the  same 
with  flowers  ; also  cups  with  flowers  painted  on  the  out- 
side in  very  dark  blue,  and  vases  of  a brilliant  red. 

Period  Siouen-te,  the  best  Ming  period  (1426-1435). 
We  find  mentioned  objects  decorated  with  blue  flowers 


34 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


(pale  blue  preferred)  ; others  with  various  colors  ; cups  red 
in  color  with  a red  fish  upon  the  handle  ; salt  cellars,  and 
little  vases  whose  cover  was  topped  with  a little  knot  of 
bamboo  ; vases  of  the  color  of  the  blue  of  the  sky ; white 
cups  for  tea,  as  brilliant  as  jade,  on  the  interior  of  which 
were  painted  in  dull  color  two  flowers  surmounted  with  a 
dragon  and  a phoenix,  extremely  small  and  delicate,  and 
under  the  flowers  was  written  “ Made  in  the  period 
Siouen-te  of  the  great  dynasty  of  the  Mings  the  sur- 
face of  these  cups  was  granulated  like  a chicken’s  skin  or 
an  orange  peel ; vases  shivered  like  broken  ice,  and  others 
with  red  streaks  like  eel’s  blood  ; bowls  decorated  with 
crickets ; vases  of  a solid  brilliant  red,  and  of  the  red  of 
“ the  precious  stone.”  There  are  still  to  be  found  a few 
objects  of  this  period. 

Period  Tching-hoa  (1465-1487).  The  porcelain  made 
during  this  reign  was  specially  noted  for  the  beauty  of  the 
enamelled  painting,  and  the  artists  of  this  period  in  draw- 
ing and  coloring  have  never  been  surpassed.  We  read 
in  a Chinese  work  that  the  Emperor  Chin-tsong  (1573- 
1620)  owned  two  cups  of  this  period  which  he  valued  at 
seventy-five  hundred  francs. 

Period  Tching-te  (1506-1522).  Cobalt  blue  was  intro- 
duced from  the  “Mussulman  barbarians  from  the  West,” 
and  which  was  valued  at  double  the  price  of  gold.  The 
color  it  produced  gave  an  antique  tone  of  great  beauty. 
Its  Chinese  name  is  Hoei'-tsing,  and  in  the  period  Kia- 
tsing  it  was  used  to  produce  very  beautiful  objects  of  very 
dark  blue.  In  this  and  the  previous  reign  the  forms  and 
designs  had  greatly  deteriorated. 

In  the  Ming  reigns  of  Long-khing  (1567-1572)  and 
Wan-li  (1573-1619),  the  Hoei'-tsing  blue  gave  out  and 
the  material  at  Jao-tcheou  was  exhausted.  The  public 
taste  at  this  time  becoming  licentious,  but  little  good 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


35 


work  was  produced.  Between  the  years  1522  and 
1572,  Tsoui-kong,  whose  work  we  have  previously  de. 
scribed,  lived  at  King-te-tching.  Between  the  years 
1567-1619,  Tcheou-tan-thsiouen  and  Ou-kong  or  Ou- 
in-tao-jin  also  worked  there,  and  have  been  previously 
referred  to.  In  the  last  years  of  the  Mings,  in  a street 
called  the  “ Little  South  street,”  small  objects,  very  thin, 
but  strong,  were  produced;  also  little  white  bowls  of 
a blueish  tint  occasionally  decorated  with  bouquets  of 
epidendrums  or  leaves  of  bamboo,  and  small  pure  white 
cups,  shallow,  with  depressed  edge,  in  imitation  of  the 
bowls  made  under  the  Tsongs.  These  cups  are  highly 
prized  at  the  present  day. 

They  also  had  at  King-te-tching,  under  the  Mings, 
certain  ovens  which  were  known  as  “ ovens  for  large  jars 
decorated  with  dragons.”  Of  such  jars  we  find  mentioned 
the  following : blue  jars  for  flowers,  on  which  were  painted 
the  precious  images  of  two  dragons  playing  in  the  clouds  ; 
large  blue  jars  ornamented  with  two  dragons  in  the  clouds 
and  with  lotus  flowers  ; white  jars  with  blue  flowers  ; large 
jars  decorated  with  four  blue  dragons  arranged  around 
the  vase  and  playing  in  the  waters  of  the  rising  tide ; large 
blue  jars  for  fish  ; porcelain  jars  of  the  color  of  “ little 
green  peas.” 

Under  Yong-tching  (1723-1735)  of  the  Thsing  dynasty 
commenced  the  systematic  imitation  of  ancient  pieces  and 
the  renaissance  of  art,  both  of  which  were  developed  under 
the  following  reign  of  Keen-long  (1736-1795).  The  new 
colors  and  process  introduced  at  King-te-tching  under 
this  latter  reign  were  as  follows : European  violet  enamel ; 
blue  enamel  called  Fa-tsing  ; vases  with  a browned  silver 
ground;  black  enamelled  ground;  brilliant  black  of 
Europe ; painting  with  enamel ; black  ground  with  Euro- 
pean enamel ; white  flowers  on  a black  ground  ; gold 


36 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


drawings  on  a black  ground ; porcelain  of  the  blue  of  the 
sky  (?)  ; enamel  which  changes  in  the  firing. 

All  of  these  new  discoveries,  and  all  the  good  work  done 
in  this  reign  at  King-te-tching  are  due  to  Thang-kong, 
who  had  been  employed  since  1728  by  Nien,  the  assistant 
Director,  who  also  personally  experimented  and  super- 
vised the  work.” 


Crackle  Porcelain. 

Crackle  porcelain  is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  produc- 
tions of  the  art  of  the  Chinese  potter,  and  has  not  been 
successfully  imitated  elsewhere.  Occasionally  European 
pieces  assume  a crackled  appearance;  but  this  has  not 
been  intentionally  produced  and  has  been  subsequent  to 
the  baking.  There  is  a considerable  variety  in  the  colored 
glazes  which  are  thus  crackled.  Some  colors,  such  as 
turquoise  blue  and  apple  green,  seem  nearly  always  to 
assume  a crackled  appearance ; others,  such  as  the  reds, 
are  rarely  affected.  The  color  chiefly  selected  is  a grayish 
white ; the  forms  are  archaic,  and  with  ornaments  in  dark 
brown,  occasionally  gilt.  The  crackled  appearance, 
though  now  always  artificial,  owes  doubtless  its  origin 
in  the  first  instance  to  accident,  and  at  an  early  period. 

Some  of  the  vases  of  the  Tsong  dynasty  (A.  D.  960- 
1270)  are  noticed  as  being  crackled.  The  productions  of 
the  two  brothers  Tchang,  who  lived  under  that  dynasty, 
were  distinguished  by  one  being  crackled  and  the  other 
not.  Crackled  vases  were  called  Tsui-khi-yao  under  the 
southern  Tsung  dynasty  (11 27-1 279),  and  are  thus  de- 
scribed in  the  History  of  King-te-tching : “ The  clay 
employed  was  coarse  and  compact,  the  vases  were  thick 
and  heavy,  some  were  of  a rice  white,  others  pale  blue. 
They  used  to  take  some  Hoa-chi  (steatite),  powder  it,  and 
mix  it  with  the  glaze.  The  vases  exhibited  cracks  run- 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


37 


ning  in  every  direction,  as  though  broken  into  a thousand 
pieces.  The  cracks  were  rubbed  over  with  Indian  ink  or 
a red  color,  and  the  superfluity  removed.  Then  was  seen 
a network  of  charming  veins,  red  or  black,  imitating  the 
cracks  of  ice.  There  were  also  vases  on  which  blue 
flowers  were  painted  on  the  crackled  ground.” 

A different  mode  of  making  the  crackles  is  described  in 
another  Chinese  work,  and  is  as  follows  : “ After  covering 
the  vases  with  glaze,  they  are  exposed  to  a very  hot  sun, 
and  when  they  have  become  hot  they  are  plunged  into 
cold  water  for  a moment.  On  being  baked  they  appear 
covered  with  innumerable  cracks.”  The  way  in  which  the 
size  of  the  crackle  is  regulated  seems  to  be  indicated  in 
one  of  the  receipts  for  making  crackle  vases,  given  in  the 
History  of  King-te-tching,  from  which  we  learn  that  the 
material  of  the  glaze  was  to  be  finely  or  coarsely  washed, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  crackle  required. 


We  have  given  considerable  space  to  the  translations 
from  Pere  d’Entrecolles  and  Stanislas  Julien,  because  they 
are  almost  the  only  authorities  we  have  on  Chinese  porce- 
lain who  compiled  from  personal  observation.  Moreover, 
the  letters  of  d’Entrecolles  were  of  great  value  to  the  ten- 
tative efforts  being  made  for  the  production  of  porcelain 
in  Europe  at  the  time  they  were  written,  and  his  words 
and  the  specimens  he  sent  home  were  among  the  leading 
causes  of  European  success.  The  translations  of  Stanislas 
Julien,  from  Chinese  documents,  contain  a large  amount  of 
information,  which  we  have  not  as  yet  the  means  of  under- 
standing or  verifying.  Each  year  of  our  intercourse  with 
China,  however,  adds  to  our  knowledge,  and  brings  us 
new  examples  which  are  described  in  this  work,  and  thus 
increases  its  value  as  a text-book. 


JADE. 


S.  Blondel,  in  his  monograph  “Le  Jade,”  from  which 
the  following  pages  have  been  condensed,  says : 

“Jade  (Chinese,  Yu),  very  common  in  India  and  China, 
varies  in  color  from  oily  white  to  dark  olive  green, 
depending  on  the  amount  of  oxides  of  iron  and  of  chrome 
which  enter  into  its  composition.  Of  all  stones  it  is  the 
hardest  and  heaviest,  being  fine-grained  and  compact  in 
texture.  It  takes  a fair  polish,  but  always  preserves  an 
oily  appearance  both  to  the  eye  and  to  the  touch. 

Although  its  ordinary  shades  are  green  of  many 
gradations,  its  classical  color  is  a milky  white,  almost 
opalescent ; when  of  this  color,  its  limpidity,  its  fine  texture 
and  hardness,  so  great  that  it  almost  eludes  the  hand  of 
the  workman,  render  it  desirable  to  be  fashioned  into 
pieces  of  great  value.  Pale  green  is  likewise  selected  to 
shape  into  vases  of  all  forms,  especially  such  as  are  to  be 
ornamented  with  elegant  reliefs  ; it  has  a uniform  and 
agreeable  tint  and  a close,  fine  grain  susceptible  of  a high 
polish.  Other  greens,  darker  and  duller,  marked  with 
molecular  freaks  and  clouds,  are  reserved  for  vases  of 
large  dimensions  and  for  bracelets.  Black  jade,  also 
highly  appreciated,  is  sometimes  of  a solid  color,  some- 
times cloudy,  and  some  specimens  recall  the  crystalline 
watering  of  galvanized  iron. 

In  ancient  times  all  travellers  in  the  East  have  re- 
garded jade  as  a variety  of  marble  or  agate,  and  many 


J A D E . 


39 


writers  have  confounded  it  with  the  celebrated  Kasch 
stone  or  jasper.  Orpheus,  no  doubt,  alluded  to  jade 
when  he  wrote  of  jasper  the  color  of  springtime.  The 
distinction  between  the  two  stones  is  quite  modern,  since 
in  a scientific  work  about  gems  and  stones  published  in 
1647,  nephritic  jade  is  considered  a jasper. 

One  of  the  principal  deposits  of  jade  is  at  Tai'-Thong 
in  the  province  of  Shen-se,  but  the  great  supply  comes 
from  the  City  of  Khotan,  in  the  canton  of  Yarkande, 
ancient  Chinese  Turkestan. 

From  time  immemorial  the  Chinese  have  prized  jade 
especially.  The  Liki,  or  ‘ Memorial  of  Rites,’  a canonical 
book  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  in  which  the  Yu  is  compared 
to  the  subtle  matter  of  the  rainbow  concreted  and  fixed 
under  the  form  of  a stone,  gives  a proof  of  their  veneration 
for  it. 

The  philosopher  Confucius,  who  lived  five  hundred 
years  before  our  era,  explained  to  one  of  his  disciples  why 
this  stone,  endowed  with  exceptional  qualities,  had  in  the 
ancient  times  merited  to  become  an  object  of  meditation 
for  the  wise  and  a symbol  of  virtue.  One  day  Tze-kun, 
the  disciple  of  Confucius,  questioned  his  divine  master  as 
follows:  ‘ Might  I ask  why  the  wise  men  esteem  the  jade 
and  set  no  store  by  the  Huen  stone?  Is  it  because  the 
jade  is  very  rare  and  the  huen  very  common?’  Con- 
fucius answered : ‘ It  is  not  because  there  is  a great 
abundance  of  huen  that  it  has  no  price,  nor  is  it  because 
the  jade  is  so  rare  that  it  is  esteemed,  but  because  from 
the  earliest  age  wise  men  have  compared  jade  to  virtue. 
In  their  eyes  its  polish  and  its  brilliancy  represent  virtue 
and  humanity,  and  its  perfect  compactness  and  extreme 
hardness  the  safeguards  of  intelligence;  the  angles  of 
jade,  which,  seeming  sharp,  yet  do  not  cut,  represent 


40 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


justice;  the  little  buttons  of  jade  which  hang  from  the  hat 
or  belt  as  if  about  to  fall,  represent  ceremony  and  polite- 
ness ; the  sound,  pure,  sustained  and  prolonged,  which  it 
gives  forth  when  struck  and  which  ceases  suddenly,  repre- 
sents music;  the  impossibility  for  the  bad  shades  to  hide 
the  beautiful  or  the  beautiful  the  bad,  represents  loyalty  ; 
the  defects,  under  the  surface,  yet  apparent,  represent 
sincerity  ; its  lustre,  like  that  of  the  rainbow,  represents  the 
firmament;  its  wonderful  material,  extracted  from  the 
mountains  and  the  waters,  represents  the  earth;  cut  into 
Knei'  or  Chu,  without  other  embellishment,  it  symbolizes 
virtue;  and  the  price  at  which  all  the  world  values  it 
symbolizes  truth.’ 

Modern  Chinese  share  with  their  ancestors  in  the  same 
passion  for  jade,  and  modern  Chinese  writers  use  its  name 
figuratively  whenever  they  wish  to  indicate  something 
very  white,  very  pure,  very  beautiful  or  perfect.  One  of 
their  greatest  poets,  Li-thai-pe,  writes : ‘ How  long  for  us 
can  last  our  possession  of  jade  and  gold?  A hundred 
years  at  most  is  the  term  of  our  longest  hope ; to  live  and 
to  die  once,  of  that  we  are  all  assured.’ 

In  a comedy  entitled  ‘ The  Accomplished  Soubrette,’ 
the  beautiful  Fan-sou  makes  a charming  comparison 
whilst  walking  through  a park  with  a friend  to  whom  she 
recites  the  following  verses : ‘ The  willows  shake  their  silken 
verdure,  whence  escape  pearls  of  dew  which  fall  like  a rain 
of  stars  into  this  limpid  pool.  You  would  think  them 
balls  of  jade  thrown  into  a crystal  fountain.’ 

In  the  period  Siouan-no  there  was  kept  at  the  palace 
a standard  collection  for  the  shades  of  Yu,  with  which  all 
pieces  reaching  the  Emperor  were  compared.  We  find 
mention  in  the  ‘ History  of  the  Dynasty  of  the  Tsongs,’ 
that  in  the  year  A.  D.  965,  the  king  of  Yu-thian  sent 


JADE. 


41 


from  Khotan  his  ambassadors,  bearing  as  a tribute  to  the 
Emperor  five  hundred  pieces  of  jade  and  five  hundred 
pounds  of  yellow  amber,  and  that  this  was  a yearly 
tribute. 

We  also  find  that  the  city  of  Yarkand e sends  to  Kho- 
tan each  year  to  be  forwarded  to  Pekin,  four  or  six  thou- 
sand kilograms  of  Yu,  and  in  this  is  not  included  the 
pieces  so  admirably  cut  and  engraved  by  the  lapidaries 
of  the  ancient  capital  of  Chinese  Tartary,  Aksou,  nor  by 
those  of  Kashgar  and  Yarkande,  where  working  in  jade 
forms  the  principal  industry. 

In  a work  entitled  ‘The  Notices  of  Khotan,’  we  read, 
‘Jade  is  hard  and  difficult  to  work,  neither  steel  nor  fire 
will  attack  it.’  The  Abbe  Grosier,  in  his  remarkable 
work  on  China,  also  assures  us  that  the  tenacity  of  the  fine 
jades  is  so  very  great  that  to  work  and  polish  them  the 
same  means  are  employed  as  for  agate  and  the  precious 
stones.  The  more  difficult  it  is  to  cut  the  more  brilliant 
is  the  polish  it  acquires.  As  many  thousands  of  days’ 
work  would  not  suffice  to  finish  certain  pieces,  the  work- 
men for  the  Emperor  succeed  each  other  without  inter- 
ruption in  the  workshop  of  the  palace,  and  although  they 
work  night  and  day,  it  often  requires  nine  or  ten  years  to 
finish  a single  piece.  The  outlay  for  this  labor  joined  to 
the  expensive  first  cost  of  fine  pieces,  makes  them  when 
finished  of  enormous  value.  And  yet  this  stone,  so  dearly 
bought,  will  break  like  glass  if  allowed  to  fall. 

The  process  of  working  jade  is  thus  described  by  Mr. 
Summer,  a resident  of  Cambay : ‘ The  stone  gem  is  first 
fixed  upon  the  steel  axis  of  a lathe,  reduced  to  a gen- 
erally circular  form  and  then  polished,  using  for  this  a 
composition  of  gum  lac  and  corundum.  Vases  and  other 
objects  are  worked  upon  this  lathe  to  suit  the  form  desired, 


42 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


and  the  first  polish  is  given  by  rubbing  upon  stones  suited 
to  this  purpose.  The  concavities  are  hollowed  out  with  a 
countersink  whose  point  is  armed  with  a diamond,  little 
holes  are  drilled  about  a quarter  of  an  inch  deep  all  over 
the  surface,  giving  the  appearance  of  a honeycomb,  and 
then  the  partitions  are  broken  away ; this  process  is  re- 
peated until  the  required  depth  is  obtained ; the  final  polish 
is  given  by  the  rapid  motion  of  a mould,  having  the  form 
in  relief  of  the  concavities,  which  is  made  to  revolve  in  the 
stone  or  crystal  to  be  polished ; these  moulds  are  of  the 
same  composition  as  the  polishing  plaques  used  on  the 
lathes.’ 

The  most  ancient  objects  made  of  jade  are  probably 
the  musical  instruments  called  ‘ Khing,’  or  sonorous 
stones,  guitars  and  flutes.  Small  objects  of  jade  are  worn 
attached  to  the  hat  and  girdle,  the  form  and  proportions 
of  which  indicate  the  rank  of  the  wearer.  We  also  find 
mentioned  objects  of  great  size.  Thus  in  a poem  named 
‘ The  Measures  of  Jade,’  it  is  related  that  Fan-tseng  de- 
stroys with  his  sword  two  vessels  of  the  precious  stone, 
each  of  which  held  1,200,000  grains  of  rice. 

Probably  the  most  interesting  objects  formed  of  jade 
are  found  upon  the  magnetic  chariots  invented,  according 
to  Chinese  historians,  by  the  Emperor  Hoang-te,  2637 
years  before  our  era.  These  little  chariots  were  attached 
to  a strong  magnetic  needle,  and  a little  figure  of  jade  with 
outstretched  arm  was  placed  in  the  chariot  and  pointed 
always  to  the  south. 

To  properly  appreciate  the  great  merit  of  objects 
carved  in  jade,  we  must  remember  the  hard  and  tenacious 
quality  of  its  grain,  which  yields  only  to  the  attacks  of  the 
diamond  and  of  emery,  and  must  recall  both  the  labor  and 
the  time  devoted  to  their  fashioning  by  the  Chinese  lapi- 


JADE. 


43 


daries,  a single  object  often  representing  the  labor  of  a 
lifetime. 

The  high  prices  that  jades  command,  even  in  China, 
have  made  a great  demand  for  a kind  of  chalcedony, 
which  the  sharp  merchants  of  Canton  sell  to  strangers  for 
genuine  jade.  There  are  two  kinds  : the  first  of  a tender 
green  color,  brought  from  Yun-nan;  its  cost  increases 
as  its  color  is  stronger  and  of  a brighter  apple  green. 
The  second,  of  a dark  cloudy  green,  comes  from  Kansouh. 

In  a Persian  manuscript  in  the  National  Library  at 
Paris  we  read  that  the  Yeschm  (Persian  for  jade)  of  com- 
merce is  of  two  kinds,  the  one  of  mineral  origin,  the 
other  a product  of  art.  It  seems  impossible  to  distinguish 
the  one  from  the  other,  wherefore,  naively  remarks  the 
writer,  no  difference  is  made  in  their  price ; indeed  the 
public  knows  no  distinction,  which  accounts  for  the 
exorbitant  demands  of  merchants.  Teng-youen-yang,  a 
commentator  of  the  ‘Ritual  of  the  Tcheous,’  who  lived 
under  the  Mings,  says : * The  men  of  the  people  dampen 
the  rice  and  mix  hemp  with  the  silk.  The  pedlar  makes 
jade  from  other  stones,  and  the  local  merchants  turn  new 
objects  into  old  and  sell  old  for  new.’ 

The  Arab  ‘ Mohammed  ibn  Mansour,’  assures  us,  in 
his  work  on  precious  stones,  that  in  China  they  make 
an  imitation  of  jade  which  has  a smoky  odor,  and  that 
if  a vase  of  jade  be  broken  they  mend  it  with  artificial 
pieces  which  cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  natural. 
And  Tei'faschi  says  artificial  yeschm  is  made  in  China 
from  a combination  of  several  materials,  and  then  further 
relates  his  own  happy  efforts  at  its  production  in  the 
‘ Land  of  the  Pharaohs.’ 

As  for  the  pretended  jade  of  Europe,  America  and 
Oceanica,  known  as  jadeite  and  nephritic  jade,  they  are 


44 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


simply  inferior  varieties  of  feldspar,  under  which  name 
they  have  been  classed  by  Haiiy.  They  are  generally  of 
a dark  cloudy  green.  The  so-called  white  jades  of 
Europe  are  found  in  Turkey,  Poland  and  Switzerland. 

These  details  will  suffice,  we  think,  to  forearm  amateurs 
against  the  frauds  which  both  in  the  East  and  the  West 
are  becoming  So  prevalent  in  all  industries.” 


METAL  VASES  AND  BRONZES. 


The  manufacture  of  metal  vases  of  gold,  copper,  iron 
and  bronze  dates  back  in  China  to  a very  remote  period, 
which  is  fixed  both  by  the  style  of  the  characters  used 
and  by  the  names  inscribed.  Thus  we  find  still  existing 
in  China  vases  of  the  periods  of  the  Shang,  Chow  and 
Han  dynasties  dating  back  to  1784  B.  C.  These  vases 
were  produced  for  the  Emperor’s  use  in  religious  or 
public  ceremonies,  or  to  be  given  as  rewards  for  merito- 
rious actions.  Such  vases,  the  marks  of  imperial  favor, 
became  heirlooms,  and  were  transmitted  from  generation 
to  generation  as  religious  relics  to  be  worshipped. 

The  artistic  merit  of  these  vessels  lies  principally  in  the 
outline  and  chaste  method  of  relief  decoration,  consisting 
mostly  of  scrolls  and  intricate  curves,  each  of  which  had 
its  significance  to  the  designer,  relating  specially  to  the 
action  the  vessel  was  to  commemorate,  or  admonishing 
the  recipient  to  guard  against  evils  in  his  path.  Of  these' 
evils  gluttony  appears  to  have  been  considered  the  most 
dangerous,  for  its  symbol  is  encountered  on  three-fourths  of 
the  vessels  of  these  periods.  A not  unusual  decoration  upon 
mirrors  and  such  vessels  is  the  cycle  of  Fuh-he,  the  founder 
of  the  Chinese  Empire  (about  3300  B.  C.)  He  is  still  wor- 
shipped as  the  author  of  all  inventions.  He  claimed  to 
have  discovered  both  the  active  and  passive  principles  in 
nature.  The  active  he  termed  Yang  or  male,  and  the 


46 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


passive,  Yin  or  female.  His  cycle  is  symbolical  of  all  the 
possible  changes  in  nature.  It  consists  of  the  eight  pos- 
sible combinations  under  his  division  of  the  sacred  number 
three.  Plate  C,  fig.  19. 

Fuh-he  also  discovered  the  dragon  Lung,  the  God  of 
Rain,  arising  from  a river  in  the  province  of  Ho-nan,  and 
who  is  represented  ascending  and  descending  in  the 
clouds.  He  has  four  legs,  with  five  claws  on  each  foot, 
and  his  figure  has  been  adopted  as  the  imperial  insignia. 
Occasionally  the  dragon  is  suggested  upon  vessels  of  this 
period.  A figure  more  frequently  introduced  is  that  of 
the  bird  Hwang,  which  only  appears  in  seasons  of  abundant 
harvests  and  great  prosperity. 

Symbolical  Ornaments  used  in  the  Decoration 
of  Chinese  Bronzes. 

On  handles  of  sacred  vessels  the  eyes  or  head  of  a lynx 
are  admonitory  of  reverence,  and  is  a decoration  very 
often  used.  Vases  with  three  feet  have  allusion  to  the 
three  stars  which  are  supposed  to  preside  over  Prince, 
Ministers,  and  People.  Vases  with  four  feet  are  in 
honor  of  the  four  higher  civil  officers.  Those  decorated 
with  clouds  and  thunder  are  supposed  to  have  been 
originally  given  by  the  Prince  for  agricultural  merit. 
Vases  inscribed  with  words  such  as  hog,  ox,  sheep,  etc., 
were  given  as  a reward  to  persons  successful  in  raising 
these  animals.  Vases  presented  to  the  literati  were  of 
iron;  those  to  ministers  of  state,  of  fine  copper;  those  to 
nobles  or  used  by  the  Emperor  were  of  gold. 

In  the  religion  of  the  Chinese  the  worship  of  their  ances- 
tors forms  a very  important  feature,  and  vases  which  com- 
memorated their  virtues  were  handed  down  from  genera- 


METAL  VASES  AND  BRONZES. 


47 


tion  to  generation  and  guarded  with  religious  devotion. 
It  was  the  custom  in  these  remote  times  for  the  Emperor 
in  worshipping  to  use  nine  vessels ; a nobleman  seven, 
a minister  five,  and  a literati  three.  In  more  recent 
times  it  has  been  customary  for  the  Emperor  to  send  an 
inferior  vase  with  the  word  Keen  (rectitude)  inscribed 
upon  it,  as  an  admonition  to  an  offending  minister  whose 
offence  was  not  so  great  as  to  merit  death.  Vases  are 
seen  with  the  word  Tsze  (meaning  “ son  ”)  inscribed  upon 
them,  and  authorities  differ  as  to  its  meaning;  some  affirm 
it  was  a surname  in  the  Shang  dynasty,  others  say  it  meant 
the  vase  was  to  descend  from  son  to  son.  These  vases 
from  the  style  of  the  character  Tsze  seem  to  be  anterior  to 
1 105  B.  C.  Some  vases,  from  the  inscription  upon  them,  are 
supposed  to  have  been  intended  for  use  at  different  seasons 
of  the  year,  such  as  Kang  (mature),  which  refers  to 
autumn;  Kioli,  an  astronomical  character,  which  refers  to 
the  period  when  fruits  are  ripe. 

The  Egyptian  scroll  is  a very  favorite  form  of  decoration ; 
there  are  also  a curious  series  of  twisting  intricate  curves 
varying  in  design,  but  bearing  general  resemblance  to  a 
human  face,  which  are  called  by  the  Chinese  Haou-teen, 
or  voracious  eating,  and  are  intended  as  an  admonition 
against  gluttony.  Vases  given  for  military  prowess  are 
distinguished  by  a figure  holding  a weapon  in  his  hand, 
by  a tiger,  or  by  the  double  Chinese  word  Kungs,  meaning 
“bows.” 

In  ancient  times  the  days  were  divided  into  male  and 
female,  or  hard  and  soft  days.  Thus  marriage  or  domestic 
ceremonies  were  performed  on  soft  days,  whereas  military 
ceremonies  and  the  like  on  hard  days ; thus  the  word 
Jow  (soft),  or  Kang  (hard),  is  found  upon  vases  which 
were  used  accordingly.  It  is  recorded  that  anciently  fish 


48 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


were  offered  to  the  moon  in  winter,  and  there  exist  vases 
of  the  Shang  dynasty  inscribed  with  a moon,  fish  and 
altar.  Vases  with  the  word  Ting  (tripod)  upon  them 
were  very  highly  esteemed.  The  Chinese  always  call  the 
handles  ears.  Animals’  heads  on  the  handles  of  drinking 
cups  were  admonitory  of  temperate  drinking.  A rhino- 
ceros’ head  on  a vase  was  an  admonitory  sign.  The  She- 
King,  in  denouncing  the  crimes  of  one  of  his  ministers, 
says  : “ Give  him  the  Rhinoceros’  cup.” 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


We  are  so  much  accustomed  here,  as  well  as  in  Europe, 
to  ornament  being  applied  to  works  of  art  simply  to 
please  the  eye,  that  we  are  apt  to  think  that  the  same  rule 
prevails  everywhere.  The  truth  is  that  many  of  the 
devices  we  employ  belong  to  the  faiths  long  passed  away, 
such  as  the  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  or  are  derived 
from  sources  so  widely  divergent  that  in  combination  they 
become  incongruous  and  unmeaning. 

Such  is  not,  however,  the  case  in  the  far  East,  especially 
in  China,  where  each  color  and  each  flower  has  its  appro- 
priate meaning  and  purpose.  In  Japan,  some  of  the 
designs  on  pottery  and  porcelain  are  derived  from  the 
history  and  mythology  of  those  islands,  or  adapted  from 
the  quaint  heraldry  of  the  noble  families ; but  the  art  of 
making  porcelain  having  been  learned  from  China,  and 
Chinese  porcelain  being  much  valued,  we  often  find  copies 
of  Chinese  devices  on  Japanese  porcelain,  though  more 
rarely  on  Japanese  pottery. 

To  explain  fully  the  numerous  devices  which  appear  on 
Oriental  porcelain  would  require  considerable  space  and 
more  information  than  we  at  present  possess ; information, 
moreover,  of  a kind  not  easily  obtained.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  there  are  three  different  religions  in  China, 
and  that  the  follower  of  one  of  them  is  rarely  able  to 
explain  the  devices  belonging  to  another.  We  propose, 
therefore,  only  to  notice  such  as  occur  more  commonly. 


50 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


S YM  BO  LS. 

PLATES  A,  B. 

The  first  to  be  noticed  are  the  peculiar  figures  which 
have  been  termed  symbols,  and  which  are  more  usually 
found  on  Chinese  than  on  Japanese  porcelain.  These 
symbols  are  generally  eight  in  number,  although  the  indi- 
vidual forms  are  apt  to  vary.  The  number  eight  is  some- 
what of  a favorite  among  the  Chinese,  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  Pa-kwa  or  eight  mystical  trigrams,  to  be  described 
hereafter ; but  it  is  also  a number  which  admits  of  being 
symmetrically  arranged. 

1.  The  Pa-gan-sien,  or  emblems  of  the  eight  immortals, 
which  do  not  very  frequently  occur  on  porcelain  as  sym- 
bols, and  will  be  described  under  the  head  of  the  eight 
immortals.  These  are  especially  Taoist. 

2.  The  Pa-chi-siang,  or  “ eight  lucky  emblems  ” of  the 
Buddhists,  represented  in  Plate  B.  These  are  carved  in 
wood  or  made  in  clay,  and  offered  on  the  altar  of  every 
Chinese  Buddhist  temple,  as  well  as  repeated  ad  infinitum 
in  architectural  decoration : they  are  derived  from  India, 
and  are  of  course  used  principally  by  the  Buddhists. 

3.  The  ordinary  Pa-pao,  or  “eight  precious  things/’ 
some  of  which  are  represented  in  Plate  A,  are  very 
variable,  and  do  not  seem  to  be  connected  with  any  special 
religion. 

The  Ordinary  Symbols. 

Plate  A,  fig.  1.  An  oblate  spherical  object,  represented 
sometimes  white  and  sometimes  yellow,  with  a ribbon 
entwined  around  it.  This  represents  a pearl;  and  is  fre- 
quently seen  floating  in  the  air  with  dragons,  who  appear 
to  be  emitting  it  from  their  mouths;  occasionally  rays  of 
effulgence  issue  from  it.  In  a Japanese  legend  connected 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


51 


with  the  conquest  of  Corea  by  Zingu,  widow  of  the 
Mikado  (A.  D.  200),  a curious  incident  is  mentioned.  She 
convokes  the  kami  or  genii,  and  one  of  them,  Isora,  is 
charged  to  seek  the  dragon’s  castle  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  and  obtain  the  magic  pearls  of  the  flux  and  reflux, 
by  means  of  which  she  gains  the  victory. 

Plate  A,  fig.  2.  A circular  object,  apparently  hollow, 
and  enclosing  a square.  This  is  described  by  M.  Jacque- 
mart  as  a Kouei,  or  a stone  of  honor  for  magistrates.  It 
does  not,  however,  appear  to  agree  with  the  description 
of  this  stone  or  sceptre  as  given  in  Williams’  Dictionary 
under  Kwei,  where  it  is  described  as  a “ tablet  with  rounded 
top  and  square  base,  and  made  nine,  seven,  or  five  inches 
long  according  to  the  bearer’s  rank.”  This  object  is 
probably  a coin,  a symbol  of  riches. 

Plate  A,  fig.  3.  A lozenge-shaped  object,  apparently 
an  open  frame,  as  the  fillets  show  through  it.  This  is  also 
termed  a Kouei  by  M.  Jacquemart.  Two  lozenges  with 
the  ends  overlapping  are  used  to  represent  the  dual 
symbol  (Fang  shang). 

Plate  A,  fig.  4.  A lozenge-shaped  object,  with  a com- 
partment in  the  upper  side,  perhaps  a variant  of  that  last 
described.  A somewhat  similar  object  is  designated  by 
M.  Jacquemart  as  a sounding  stone,  for  which,  however, 
the  next  specimen  seems  better  suited. 

Plate  A,  fig.  5.  An  object  somewhat  like  a mason’s 
square.  This  is  no  doubt  what  is  described  by  Williams 
as  a sonorous  stone  or  bronze  plate,  used  instead  of  a bell 
in  China,  and  termed  Khing.  He  states  that  figures  of 
this  instrument  are  seen  carved  on  the  ends  of  rafters,  etc., 
as  an  emblem  of  the  different  character  with  the  same 
sound,  which  signifies  ‘ ‘ goodness,”  “ happiness,”  or  “ luck.” 

Plate  A,  fig.  6.  Two  oblong  objects  placed  close  to- 
gether, exactly  alike,  and  probably  representing  books. 


52 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


Plate  A,  fig.  7.  A pair  of  curved  objects  intended  to 
represent  rhinoceros  horns. 

Plate  A,  fig.  8.  A leaf  of  variable  form,  probably  a leaf 
of  the  artemisia,  an  emblem  of  good  augury. 

Instead  of  these  symbols  are  sometimes  to  be  found  the 
shell,  a flower,  and  two  fishes,  which  will  be  described  in  the 
series  given  in  the  next  plate,  as  well  as  a branch  of  coral, 
a silver  ingot,  a cake  of  ink,  etc.  These  symbols  are  also 
sometimes  seen  carried  in  a procession  of  fantastic  figures, 
possibly  tribute-bearers  from  the  tribes  of  the  Man  or 
southern  barbarians. 

Buddhist  Symbols. 

Plate  B,  fig.  9.  A bell  (Chung).  This  is  generally  re- 
placed by  the  Lun  or  Chakra,  the  wheel  of  the  law. 

Plate  B,  fig.  10.  A univalve  shell  (Lo),  the  chank  shell 
of  the  Buddhists.  A shell  was  lent  by  the  Government  to 
the  ambassadors  to  Loochoo,  to  ensure  them  a prosperous 
voyage. 

Plate  B,  fig.  11.  A state  umbrella  (San),  possibly  in- 
tended for  the  Wan-min-san,  “ The  umbrella  of  ten  thou- 
sand people,”  which  is  presented  to  a mandarin  on  his 
leaving  his  district  as  a token  of  the  purity  of  his  admin- 
istration. 

Plate  B,  fig.  12.  A canopy  (Kae). 

Plate  B,  fig.  13.  The  lotus  flower  (Hwa).  This  symbol 
is  never  represented  with  fillets ; it  occurs  not  uncom- 
monly as  a mark.  Although  properly  the  sacred  lotus  of 
the  Buddhists,  it  is  often  represented  more  like  a peony, 
or  some  other  flower. 

Plate  B,  fig.  14.  A vase  with  cover  (Kwan). 

Plate  B,  fig.  15.  Two  fishes  (Yu)  united  by  fillets, 
allude  to  domestic  felicity.  A freshwater  fish,  like  a perch, 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


53 


called  Fu,  was  supposed  to  go  about  in  pairs,  faithful 
to  each  other.  It  has  exactly  the  same  sound  as  Fu, 
“riches.” 

Plate  B,  fig.  1 6.  An  angular  knot,  the  intestines,  an 
emblem  of  longevity. 

Other  Symbolical  Devices. 

Plate  C,  fig.  17.  A seal  character  (Show),  longevity, 
arranged  in  an  ornamental  form.  This  character  is  re- 
presented in  no  less  than  one  hundred  different  ways,  and 
often  occurs  on  porcelain.  That  engraved  is  from  a 
saucer,  where  it  is  surrounded  by  five  bats. 

Plate  C,  fig.  18.  A bat.  This  animal  is  constantly  re- 
presented on  Chinese  works  of  art,  and  the  cause  of  its 
presence  is  a singular  one.  Though  written  with  a dif- 
ferent character,  the  name  of  the  bat,  Fuh,  has  exactly  the 
same  sound  as  Fuh,  happiness,  and  it  is,  therefore,  very 
commonly  used  as  a synonym  for  the  latter.  The  figure 
is  taken  from  a saucer  on  which  there  are  five  bats.  These 
five  bats  symbolize  the  five  blessings  or  happinesses,  viz. 
1.  Longevity,  2.  Riches,  3.  Peacefulness,  4.  Love  of 
virtue,  5.  A happy  death. 

Plate  C,  fig.  19.  The  famous  set  of  eight  trigrams, 
known  as  the  Pa-kwa.  They  consist  of  combinations  of 
broken  and  entire  lines,  each  differently  placed.  The 
entire  lines  represent  the  male,  strong  or  celestial  element 
in  nature,  and  the  broken,  the  female,  weak  or  terrestrial. 
Each  group  has  its  own  name,  and  even  the  dishes  at  a 
feast  are  arranged  in  accordance  with  these  diagrams. 
They  are  said  to  have  been  first  published  by  Fuh-he,  the 
legendary  founder  of  the  Chinese  polity,  who  is  stated  to 
have  lived  B.  C.  2852  to  2738,  and  to  whom  they  were 
revealed  by  a dragon-horse.  By  them  the  Chinese  phil- 


54 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


osophers  attempted  to  explain  all  the  secrets  of  nature 
and  of  being.  The  diagram  here  given  is  the  oldest  arrange- 
ment, in  which  they  are  supposed  to  be  in  connection 
with  the  points  of  the  compass,  the  north  and  south  being, 
however,  reversed,  according  to  the  Chinese  system. 

The  circular  figure  in  the  centre  is  the  mystical  device, 
the  Yang  and  Yin,  the  male  and  female  elements  of  na- 
ture. This  device  is  frequently  employed  as  an  ornament 
in  China. 

The  Eight  Immortals. 

The  Pa  Sien,  or  eight  immortals,  are  legendary  beings 
of  the  Taoist  sect,  said  to  have  lived  at  various  times  and 
attained  immortality.  They  are  not  unfrequently  depicted 
on  porcelain,  and  are  also  to  be  found  as  separate  figures, 
of  which  there  are  two  sets,  one  standing,  the  other  seated ; 
sometimes  they  ornament  the  edges  of  plates,  standing  on 
various  animals  among  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and  their 
symbols  occasionally  occur  as  devices. 

The  following  are  their  names  in  the  sequence  in  which 
they  are  represented  in  the  engravings ; their  order,  how- 
ever, differs  in  various  lists,  see  Williams’  Dictionary,  un- 
der “Sien,”  and  Mayer’s  Chinese  Reader’s  Manual,  p. 
338,  from  which  latter  most  of  the  information  here  given 
is  derived. 

1.  Han  Chung-le  [PI.  D],  said  to  have  lived  under 
the  Chow  dynasty,  which  lasted  from  1 122-249  B.  C.,  and 
to  have  obtained  possession  of  the  elixir  of  immortality. 
He  is  generally  represented  as  a fat  man  with  a bare  belly, 
and  holds  in  his  hand  a fan,  with  which  he  is  said  to  revive 
the  souls  of  the  dead.  His  emblem  is  a fan  (Shan).  He 
is  also  known  as  Chung-le- K wan. 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


55 


2.  Leu  Tung-Pin  [PI.  D],  born  A.  D.  755.  While  a 
magistrate  of  the  district  of  Teh-hwa,  he  is  said  to  have 
encountered  Han  Chung-le  among  the  recesses  of  the 
Lu-Shan,  from  whom  he  learned  the  mysteries  of  alchemy 
and  of  the  elixir  of  immortality.  He  was  exposed  to  a 
series  of  temptations,  ten  in  number,  and  having  overcome 
them,  was  invested  with  a sword  of  supernatural  power, 
with  which  he  traversed  the  empire,  slaying  dragons  and 
ridding  the  earth  of  divers  kinds  of  evil  for  upwards  of  four 
hundred  years.  His  emblem  is  a sword  (Keen). 

3.  Le  Tee-kwae  [PI.  E].  It  is  uncertain  when  he  lived; 
he  was  instructed  in  Taoist  lore  by  Lao  Tsze  himself,  who 
used  to  summon  him  to  interviews  in  the  celestial  spheres. 
To  do  this  his  spirit  had  to  leave  his  body,  which  he  en- 
trusted to  the  care  of  a disciple.  On  one  occasion  the 
disciple  was  summoned  away,  and  when  the  disembodied 
spirit  returned  the  body  was  gone.  Lee  Tee-kwae  there- 
fore took  refuge  in  the  body  of  a lame  beggar,  in  whose 
shape  he  continued  his  existence,  supporting  himself  on 
a crutch  or  staff.  His  emblem  is  the  pilgrim’s  gourd 
(Hu-lu),  and  he  holds  a staff  in  his  hand. 

4.  Tsaou  Kwo-kiu  [PI.  E],  said  to  be  the  son  of 
Tsaou  Pin,  a military  commander,  who  died  A.  D.  999, 
and  brother  of  the  Empress  Tsaou  How.  He  is  therefore 
represented  as  wearing  a court  headdress.  His  emblem 
is  a pair  of  castanets  (Pan),  which  he  holds  in  one  hand. 

5.  Lan  Tsae-ho  [PI.  F],  of  uncertain  sex,  but  gen- 
erally considered  a female.  In  the  engraving  a male 
figure  is  represented  carrying  a flower-basket  (Hwa-lan), 
which  is  the  usual  emblem. 

6.  Chang  Ko-laou  [PI.  F],  said  to  have  flourished 
towards  the  close  of  the  7th  and  middle  of  the  8th  centu- 
ries. He  was  a great  necromancer,  and  used  to  be  accom- 


56 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


panied  by  a white  mule,  which  carried  him  immense 
distances,  and  when  not  required  was  folded  up  and  put 
away.  The  Emperor  Ming  Hwang  summoned  him  to 
his  court,  but  he  refused  to  go.  He  is  represented  with 
a bamboo  tube  (Yuku),  a kind  of  musical  instrument  used 
by  Taoists,  and  two  rods  to  beat  it ; the  latter  are  some- 
times placed  in  the  tube  forming  his  emblem. 

7.  Han  Seang-tsze  [PI.  G],  said  to  be  a great-nephew 
of  the  statesman  and  philosopher  Han  Yu,  who  lived 
A.  D.  768-824.  He  was  a pupil  of  Leu  Tung-Pin,  by 
whom  he  was  carried  to  the  fabulous  peach  tree  of  the 
genii,  but  fell  from  its  branches.  He  is  represented  as  a 
flute-player,  and  his  emblem  is  a flute  (Tieh). 

8.  Ho  Seen-koo  [PI.  G],  stated  to  have  been  the 
daughter  of  Ho  Tai  of  Tseng-cheng,  near  Canton.  She 
used  to  indulge  in  solitary  wanderings  among  the  hills, 
and  rejecting  the  ordinary  food  of  mortals,  ate  the  powder 
of  mother-of-pearl,  which  was  supposed  to  produce  im- 
mortality. She  was  summoned  to  the  court  of  the 
Empress  Wu  (A.  D.  690-705),  but  on  her  way  disap- 
peared. She  carries  in  her  hand  a lotus  flower  (Leen-hwa), 
which  forms  her  emblem. 

Emblems  of  Longevity. 

The  greatest  desire  of  a Chinaman  is  long  life,  which 
prolongs  his  enjoyment  of  this  world’s  goods,  and  ensures 
his  receiving  the  respect  paid  to  old  age  in  a country 
governed  by  the  maxims  of  Confucius.  Longevity  is 
therefore  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  Woo  Fuh  or  “ Five 
Blessings.” 

The  Taoists,  or  followers  of  Lao  Tsze,  carried  this  still 
further,  spending  their  time  like  the  mediaeval  alchemists, 
in  the  search  after  the  elixir  of  immortality.  , 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


57 


As  might  therefore  be  expected,  the  emblems  of  lon- 
gevity occur  very  frequently  on  porcelain,  and  take  a great 
variety  of  forms,  all  symbolizing  good  wishes  to  the  pos- 
sessor; it  may  be  therefore  useful  briefly  to  describe  these 
emblems. 

One  of  the  commonest  of  the  seal  characters  with  which 
porcelain  is  decorated  is  the  word  Show  (Japanese  Ju  or 
Z’yu),  “ longevity  ” (see  PI.  C,  fig.  17),  of  which  the 
varieties  are  endless.  On  a vase  published  by  M.  Jacque- 
mart  (1873,  p.  44)  a number  of  different  forms  occur.  A 
set  of  a hundred  varieties  is  on  a roll  in  the  British 
Museum,  another  set  is  given  in  Hooper  and  Phillips’ 
Manual  of  Marks.  The  word  is  also  used  as  a mark  on 
porcelain. 

We  also  find  statuettes  and  representations  of  the  god 
longevity,  with  an  elongated  bald  head,  holding  a sceptre 
of  longevity,  resting  on  a deer  or  riding  on  a stork  or 
tortoise. 

A knot  pattern  (Chinese,  Chang ; Japanese,  Cho)  is  also 
used  as  an  emblem  of  long  life,  more  especially  in  China. 
It  is  a Buddhist  symbol,  the  intestines,  and  is  represented 
in  PI.  B,  fig.  16.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  line  form- 
ing it  has  neither  beginning  nor  end. 

Among  the  animals  connected  with  longevity  should 
be  mentioned  the  fabulous  K’i-lin,  though  it  was  rather 
employed  as  a symbol  of  good  government,  which  its 
appearance  was  supposed  to  herald.  It  was  said  to  attain 
the  age  of  one  thousand  years.  It  must  however  be 
remembered  that  most  of  the  animals  commonly  termed 
Kylins  are  other  monsters,  especially  the  fabulous  lion  of 
Corea.  The  true  K’i-lin  is  represented  with  the  body  and 
hoofs  of  deer,  the  tail  of  a bull,  and  a single  horn  on  his 
forehead. 


58 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


The  deer  (Chinese,  Luh ; Japanese,  Roku)  is  also  an 
emblem  of  longevity.  A white  stag  frequently  accom- 
panies the  god  of  longevity.  It  sometimes  carries  in  its 
mouth  another  emblem,  the  fungus.  A deer  however  is 
also  used  as  a symbol  of  official  emolument  or  prosperity, 
having  the  same  sound  as  the  word  for  the  latter  (Luh). 
It  is  probably  for  this  reason  that  we  find  a fawn  accom- 
panying the  Japanese  god  of  talent,  Toshi-toku. 

The  hare  (Chinese,  Tu ; Japanese,  Usagi)  is  sacred  to  the 
moon,  where  the  Taoists  believe  it  to  live  pounding  the 
drugs  that  form  the  elixir  of  life.  It  is  stated  to  live  a 
thousand  years,  and  to  become  white  when  it  has  reached 
the  end  of  the  first  five  hundred.  The  hare,  often  mis- 
called a rabbit,  occurs  on  porcelain,  both  as  a decoration 
and  as  a mark. 

The  fox  (Chinese,  Hu  ; Japanese,  Kitsu-ne)  is  considered, 
especially  in  Japan,  as  a very  mysterious  animal.  There 
are  several  wonderful  legends  concerning  it  in  Mitford’s 
“ Tales  of  Old  Japan.”  It  is  said  to  attain  the  same  age  as 
the  hare,  when  it  is  admitted  to  the  heavens  and  becomes 
the  celestial  fox. 

The  tortoise  (Chinese,  Kwei;  Japanese,  Ki  or  Kame) 
was  also  a supernatural  animal,  and  its  shell  was  used  in 
divination.  The  tortoise  with  a hairy  tail  is  depicted  in 
Japan  as  an  attendant  on  the  god  of  old  age,  and  is  used 
as  an  emblem  of  longevity.  A Chinese  phrase  Kwei-ho- 
tung-chun  signifies  “ May  your  days  be  as  long  as  the 
tortoise  and  stork.” 

The  stork  (Chinese,  Ho ; Japanese,  Tsuru)  is  one  of  the 
commonest  emblems  of  longevity.  It  is  said  to  reach  a 
fabulous  age,  and  when  six  hundred  years  old  to  drink, 
but  no  longer  eat;  after  two  thousand  years  to  turn  black. 

Among  plants  are  three  trees,  which  though  not  all 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


59 


strictly  speaking  emblems  of  longevity,  are  closely  con- 
nected with  it ; these  are  the  pine  tree,  bamboo  and  plum. 
They  are  termed  by  the  Japanese  in  combination  Sho- 
chiku-bai.  The  Chinese  say  “the  pine,  bamboo  and 
plum  ” are  like  three  friends,  because  they  keep  green  in 
“ cold  weather.”  The  pine  tree  (Chinese,  Sung ; Japanese, 
Matsu)  is  a very  common  emblem,  and  to  be  found  on 
many  specimens  in  the  collection.  Its  sap  was  said  to  turn 
into  amber  when  the  tree  reaches  the  age  of  a thousand 
years.  The  bamboo  (Chinese,  Chuh  ; Japanese,  Take)  is 
another  emblem,  owing  probably  to  its  durability.  Its 
elegant  form  causes  it  frequently  to  be  depicted  in  works 
of  art,  both  in  China  and  Japan.  The  plum  tree  or  prunus 
(Chinese,  Mei ; Japanese,  Mume),  though  not  properly  an 
emblem  of  longevity,  is  indirectly  connected  with  it,  as  the 
philosopher  Lao  Tsze,  the  founder  of  the  Taoist  sect,  is 
said  to  have  been  born  under  a plum  tree.  It  forms  the 
decoration  of  the  porcelain  erroneously  termed  “May 
flower”  or  “hawthorn  pattern.” 

The  peach  (Chinese,  Tao ; J apanese,  Momo)  is  a symbol 
of  marriage,  but  also  of  longevity.  Great  virtues  were 
attributed  to  the  peach,  especially  that  which  grew  near 
the  palace  of  Si  Wang  Mu,  Queen  of  the  Genii,  on  which 
the  fruit  ripened  but  once  in  three  thousand  years. 

The  gourd  (Chinese,  Hu-lu;  Japanese,  Hiotan  or  Fuku 
be)  is  also  an  emblem  of  longevity,  especially  in  Japan, 
owing  perhaps  to  its  durability  when  dried. 

Of  all  plants,  however,  the  most  common  emblem  of 
longevity  is  the  fungus  (Chinese,  Chi  or  Lingchi ; Japan- 
ese, Reishi)  which  has  been  already  mentioned. 

The  fungus  in  question  is  probably  the  Polyporus  luci- 
dus,  which  when  dried  is  very  durable.  It  is  preserved 
in  temples,  and  is  often  represented  in  connection  with 


6o 


CHINESE  SECTION. 


Lao  Tsze  and  the  immortals.  It  is  a very  common  orna- 
ment on  porcelain. 

Though  not  strictly  an  emblem  of  longevity,  it  may 
be  well  to  mention  the  Joo-e  or  sceptre  of  longevity 
(literally  “as  you  wish”),  which  is  often  given  at  marri- 
ages, and  to  friends  for  good  luck.  It  is  made  of  a great 
variety  of  materials,  such  as  jade,  enamelled  metal,  lac- 
quer, &c.  It  is  often  represented  in  the  hand  of  the  god 
of  longevity. 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


Japanese  legends  attribute  the  invention  of  pottery  to 
Oosei-tsumi,  who  lived  long  before  660  B.  C.,  the  begin- 
ning of  the  historical  period  of  Japan.  Between  660  and 
581  B.  C.,  Wakanet  su  Hiko-no-mikoto,  in  the  province 
of  Yamato,  made  some  vessels  of  pottery  for  use  in  the 
temples.  By  order  of  the  Emperor  Suinin  (29  B.  C.), 
human  figures  made  of  burnt  clay  were  buried  with 
deceased  members  of  the  imperial  family  in  place  of  their 
servants,  as  had  before  been  the  custom.  About  A.  D. 
590,  a Corean  made  tiles  at  Tokio.  About  600  the  pagoda 
of  the  temple  of  Korinji  in  Yamato  was  built  of  bricks. 
About  660  the  roof  of  the  Imperial  temple  was  tiled.  In 
724  Giyoki,  a priest,  introduced  the  potter’s  wheel  in  the 
province  of  Yamato. 

In  1225  Kato  Shirozayemon  went  to  China,  returned 
and  settled  at  Seto,  in  Owari,  where  he  made  stoneware. 
Owari  or  Seto  porcelain  is  made  at  Seto,  six  miles  from 
Nagoya,  in  the  province  of  Owari. 

About  1500  Ameya,  a Corean,  came  to  Kiyoto  and 
made  a black  earthenware  covered  with  a glaze  con- 
taining lead,  and  called  it  Raku  (enjoyment).  His  de- 
scendants still  make  small  bowls  and  other  objects  of  the 
same  ware.  Both  Kiyoto  and  Mino  ware  are  made  at 
the  places  after  which  they  are  named. 

* In  1585  Gorodayu  Shonsui  went  to  China  from  Ise, 
studied  there,  returned  and  made  the  first  real  por- 


64 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


celain  of  Japan.  He  settled  in  the  province  of  Hizen,  and 
from  the  first  produced  the  different  kinds  of  porcelain 
which  are  to-day  made  there,  viz.  the  Sometsuki  or  blue 
ware,  painted  with  oxide  of  cobalt  under  the  glaze ; the 
Kanyu  or  Hibiki,  crackled;  the  Seidji  or  celadon,  and  the 
Grosai,  meaning  “ five  colors,”  enamelled  on  the  glaze. 
This  ware  is  now  called  Nishikide.  The  old  Hizen  or 
Imari  porcelain,  made  principally  at  Arita,  is  decorated 
with  blue  under  the  glaze,  black  outlines  and  red,  green 
and  gold.  For  a short  time  all  the  articles  were  marked 
Shonsui. 

At  more  recent  dates  porcelain  has  been  made  at 
Kutani.  Kutani  is  the  name  of  the  mountain  in  the 
province  of  Kaga  where  the  porcelain  material  is  found. 
The  factory  is  in  the  village  of  Yamashiro. 

About  1595  the  Prince  of  Satsuma  having  invaded 
Corea,  brought  home  a number  of  potters  with  their 
families,  and  near  Nagoshima  in  the  province  of  Satsuma 
established  factories.  These  families  were  kept  isolated 
until  within  the  past  fifteen  years.  Lately  Satsuma  ware 
has  been  imitated  at  Kiyoto,  Awajisima,  Yokohama  and 
Tokio. 

Old  Satsuma  ware  is  generally  found  in  small  pieces, 
such  as  bowls,  plates,  small  vases  and  teapots;  but  for  the 
exhibition  of  1876,  modern  vases  of  large  size  were  made. 
Of  the  old  Satsuma  ware  the  finest  and  rarest  pieces  were 
made  in  the  “ Garden  of  the  Prince,”  for  his  own  use,  or 
as  presents  to  his  compeers,  whose  families  esteem  them 
so  highly  that  foreigners  can  rarely  obtain  examples.  The 
earliest  Satsuma  pottery  was  of  a delicate  soft  clay ; in 
color  of  a creamy  yellow  shadowed  into  pale  chocolate  ; 
it  was  covered  with  a minutely  crackled  glaze,  similar  to* 
that  now  used.  When  decorations  were  introduced  the 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


65 


human  figure  was  very  rarely  used ; flowers,  vines,  pea- 
cocks, hohos,  hatchings  and  scrolls  forming  the  ornamen- 
tation found  upon  this  princely  ware. 

The  decoration  is  distinguished  by  great  delicacy  of 
outline ; rich  red  and  green  colors  and  tracings  in  thick 
gold  lines  of  a dull  color.  The  finest  Satsuma  was  made 
between  the  years  1775  and  1820.  No  porcelain  has  been 
produced  at  this  factory  except  as  an  experiment. 

Awata  or  Kiyoto  ware  was  invented  a little  later  than 
the  slightly  buff-colored  Satsuma  ; it  has  a yellowish  tint, 
and  on  account  of  its  color  is  called  Tamago-yaki  or 
“ egg  pottery.”  The  decorations  originally  were  very 
light  sketches  in  a few  neutral  tints,  but  latterly  they  have 
imitated  both  Satsuma  and  Hizen  wares,  and  efforts  have 
been  made  to  adopt  the  European  mode  of  painting 
flowers.  An  article  very  similar  to  the  Satsuma  and 
Awata  wares  is  now  manufactured  on  a small  scale  on  the 
island  of  Awadji,  and  a peculiar  kind  of  stoneware  called 
Banko-yaki  is  made  in  the  province  of  Ise. 

The  manufactories  we  have  mentioned  are  those  which 
produce  articles  of  artistic  merit,  most  sought  after  by 
museums  and  amateurs.  Besides  these  are  many  small 
factories  where  all  kinds  of  earthenware  and  porcelain  are 
made  into  objects  for  household  use.  We  find  pieces  glazed 
like  the  majolicas  of  Italy  with  a composition  containing  a 
large  percentage  of  lead,  some  few  of  which  are  deco- 
rated with  painting  under  the  glaze  ; also  objects  orna- 
mented with  p&te  sur  pate,  and  occasionally  curious  pieces 
made  by  amateurs,  at  tea  parties  given  for  the  purpose, 
where  as  an  amusement  of  the  evening,  each  guest  tries 
his  skill  to  produce  a work  of  art  in  earthenware.  We 
also  find  the  plastic  arts  represented  by  small  figures, 
glazed  and  unglazed,  generally  of  mythological  person- 


66 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


ages  or  warriors.  The  finest  specimens  of  these  come 
from  Satsuma  and  Kiyoto.  Long  experience  in  Hizen 
and  Owari  has  enabled  their  artists  to  execute  very  large 
pieces  in  porcelain,  such  as  dishes  three  and  four  feet  in 
diameter,. and  vases  six  and  seven  feet  high.  In  the 
province  of  Hizen  only  have  they  adopted  a potter’s 
wheel. 

At  Arita,  in  Hizen,  they  make  the  very  delicate  egg- 
shell pottery  almost  as  thin  as  paper.  The  glazes  are 
always  composed  of  a feldspathic  material,  natural  or 
manufactured,  to  which  is  added  a certain  quantity  of 
wood-ashes  freed  from  alkali  by  careful  lixiviation.  The 
body  of  celadon  ware  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  common, 
but  the  glaze  is  made  from  a different  mineral.  Crackle 
ware  is  produced  from  a peculiar  porcelain  stone,  and  the 
nature  of  the  meshes  of  cracks  depends  upon  the  quality 
of  this  stone,  and  the  degree  of  baking  it  is  subjected  to  both 
before  and  after  glazing.  This  ware  is  finely  rubbed  with 
india  ink  or  other  colored  liquid  to  make  the  cracks  more 
distinct. 

The  porcelain  which  is  decorated  with  blue  paintings 
under  the  glaze  called  Sometsuki  is  much  used  in  Japan. 
The  blue  is  derived  from  a native  cobaltiferous  ore,  or 
from  a purer  material  imported  from  China. 

That  which  is  also  decorated  with  colored  enamels 
goes  through  a third  and  entirely  different  baking  at  a 
much  lower  temperature,  and  from  this  fact  it  arises  that 
many  pieces  of  porcelain  and  faience  originally  made  at 
Imari,  Owari  and  Satsuma  are  decorated  at  Kiyoto  and 
other  places. 

The  principal  coloring  oxides  are  copper,  manganese, 
antimony,  red  oxide  of  iron,  impure  oxide  of  cobalt  (for 
black),  a sort  of  smalt  from  China,  and  gold,  which  for 


POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN. 


67 


carmine  tints  is  mixed  with  powdered  glass,  and  for  gilding 
with  white  lead  or  borax.  These  enamels  are  not  melted 
beforehand,  but  mixed  by  the  artist  and  applied  directly, 
so  that  their  color  does  not  appear  until  after  the  pieces 
have  been  baked. 

For  centuries  Kiyoto  was  the  Imperial  City  of  Japan, 
the  capital  of  the  Empire,  the  seat  of  learning,  and  the 
nursery  of  art.  There  the  court  resided  and  the  nobles 
congregated,  and  there  tributes  were  sent  from  every 
province  and  principality  of  Japan.  Among  these  yearly 
tributes  were  always  to  be  found  objects  of  faience  and 
porcelain  from  various  factories.  These  objects  accumu- 
lated under  the  eyes  of  the  potters  of  Kiyoto,  incited 
them  to  artistic  efforts,  and  led  them  to  become  what 
they  now  are,  the  most  successful  artists  of  Japan.  To- 
day the  decoration  used  by  every  factory  of  Japan  is 
imitated  only  too  successfully  in  Kiyoto.  When  the  in- 
gredients to  form  the  pottery  itself  are  not  to  be  found  in 
the  neighborhood,  orders  for  undecorated  pieces  are  sent 
to  the  factories,  these  pieces  are  afterwards  decorated  at 
Kiyoto  and  sold  for  genuine.  Such  frauds,  if  confined  to 
the  imitation  of  modern  work,  would  not  be  of  much  con- 
sequence, but  unfortunately  the  Japanese  perseverance 
has  discovered  a method  for  making  their  youthful  pot- 
tery turn  gray  in  a short  time.  Even  the  Satsuma  ware 
made  in  the  “Garden  of  the  Prince”  has  not  escaped. 
At  Yokohama  the  great  foreign  demand  for  objects  of 
art  of  the  best  periods  has  led  dealers  to  employ  artists 
to  reproduce  such  objects,  and  to-day  this  city  has  even 
outstripped  Kiyoto  in  this  fraudulent  industry. 


LACQUER. 


Lacquer  (Japanese,  Urushi)  is  the  vehicle  most  exclu- 
sively identified  with  Japanese  art  and  art  industries.  The 
Chinese  have  attempted  its  use,  and  in  Europe  connois- 
seurs are  familiar  with  the  vernis  of  the  Martins,  who 
worked  in  Paris  in  the  last  century.  But  lacquer  in  all  its 
beautiful  uses  and  decorations  is  a truly  Japanese  belong- 
ing. The  date  of  its  first  application  is  lost  in  the  mis- 
tiness of  tradition.  Like  the  potter’s  art,  the  industry  of 
the  lacquer  workers  passed  from  crude  beginnings  of 
forty  centuries  ago  to  the  marvels  of  artistic  workmanship 
produced  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

An  important  historical  work,  published  in  Japan  one 
hundred  and  eighty  years  before  our  Christian  era,  speaks 
of  lacquer  objects  of  furniture  employed  at  the  Court.  In 
the  Temple  of  Todayeji,  at  Nara,  in  the  province  of 
Yamato,  the  priests  preserve  with  greatest  care  lacquer 
boxes  made  in  our  third  century  and  used  to  hold  their 
books  of  prayer.  In  A.  D.  380  the  Sadaijin  Shibei  pub- 
lished a book  called  Engishiki,  in  which  he  mentions 
both  red  and  gold  lacquer.  Eighty  years  later,  Minamoto 
no  Juin  speaks  also  of  lacquers,  known  as  Nashiji,  or  gold 
sprinkled  lacquer. 

In  480  a woman  of  great  literary  attainments  mentions 
in  one  of  her  works,  lacquer  incrusted  with  mother  of 
pearl.  From  this  year  to  664  many  allusions  to  this  in- 


LACQUER. 


69 


dustry  are  found  in  Japanese  writings,  but  from  664  to  910 
Japan  was  the  prey  of  continual  wars  and  political  intrigues, 
so  that  art  found  no  resting-place  for  progress,  and  many 
of  the  fine  objects  existing  were  destroyed  by  fire  or 
pillage.  From  910  to  1650  peace  held  sway,  the  industries 
were  revived,  families  became  rich,  luxury  invaded  every 
household,  and  the  lacquer  workers  became  renowned  and 
their  artistic  works  greatly  prized.  The  magnificent  ob- 
jects produced  at  this  period  are  eagerly  sought  after  by 
native  amateurs  and  prized  under  the  name  of  “Jidai 
Mono.” 

About  this  time  Nagasaki  was  opened  to  the  Hollanders, 
who  created  a demand  which  produced  an  unfortunate 
result.  Quantity  rather  than  quality  was  called  for,  and 
the  result  was  disastrous.  From  1700  the  art  work  in 
lacquer  declined,  and  in  1859,  when  Yokohama  was  opened 
to  foreigners,  it  created  a further  demand  for  the  produc- 
tion of  objects  pleasing  to  the  eye  but  inferior  and  defec- 
tive in  workmanship.  Time  became  measured  by  money, 
and  the  price  of  objects  made  as  of  old  became  too  great. 

The  objects  exposed  at  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1867 
were  of  the  finest  period  and  were  a revelation  to  Europe, 
as  they  showed  by  contrast  how  the  industry  had  fallen. 
Fortunately  the  Home  Government  saw  this  also  and  ex- 
erted every  effort  to  revive  this  dying  art.  These  efforts 
have  been  rewarded  by  great  progress,  and  to-day  works 
of  great  merit  are  produced.  The  most  beautiful  objects 
are  now  made  in  the  three  cities  of  Tokio,  Kiyoto  and 
Osaka.  In  the  provinces  of  Suruga,  Nakasa,  O Kii  and 
Iwashiro  inferior  objects  are  produced. 

Lacquer  is  the  sap  of  the  Rhus  vernicifera,  the  cultiva- 
tion of  which  in  Japan  is  a most  important  branch  of 
agriculture.  Wax  is  made  from  the  fruit  of  the  lacquer 


70 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


tree ; this  fruit  is  round  and  contains  a very  hard  stone.  The 
tree  when  five  years  old  is  regularly  tapped  from  May 
until  the  first  of  November  by  incisions  through  the  bark 
into  the  wood,  each  extending  around  one-fourth  of  the 
circumference  of  the  tree.  The  first  incisions  are  made 
about  a half  a yard  apart  on  opposite  sides  of  the  tree,  and 
every  three  or  four  days  fresh  incisions  are  made.  This 
is  repeated  until  the  tree  is  destroyed  and  has  to  be  cut 
down.  Its  branches  are  also  tapped  in  a spiral  line. 

Varieties  of  Lacquer. 

1.  Lacquer  drawn  from  the  branches  (Seshime-urushi) 
becomes  very  hard  and  is  used  for  priming. 

2.  The  crude  lacquer  (Ki-no  urushi)  is  a viscous  liquid 
of  dirty  grayish  color  and  full  of  impurities,  which  are 
allowed  to  settle,  when  the  lacquer  is  drawn  off  and 
strained  through  cotton  cloth.  This  straining  process  is 
very  important,  and  for  fine  work  the  lacquers  are  again 
carefully  strained  through  a strong  paper  called  Gashino- 
gami,  just  before  using  them.  The  fine  lacquer  is  stirred 
in  the  open  air  to  allow  the  superabundance  of  water  to 
evaporate,  when  it  assumes  a brilliant  dark  brown  color, 
which  in  thin  layers  is  transparent,  but  in  thick  ones 
opaque. 

3.  Shunkei  urushi  is  a lacquer  which  needs  no  grind- 
ing or  polishing,  and  is  made  by  mixing  a little  oil  of 
Perilla  ocemoides  (Ye-no-abura)  with  pure  lacquer.  This 
is  used  for  furniture,  is  of  a yellowish  color,  and  so  trans- 
parent that  the  grain  of  the  wood  remains  visible.  The 
most  celebrated  is  made  in  Akita. 

4.  Roiro  urushi,  black  lacquer,  is  produced  by  simply 
stirring  the  crude  lacquer  in  the  open  air  for  about  two 


LACQUER. 


71 


days,  and  adding  towards  the  end  of  this  time  a littie 
water  in  which  iron  filings  have  been  standing.  These 
methods  are  varied  to  some  little  extent  by  the  artists, 
each  of  whom  prepares  his  own  lacquer.  In  priming, 
a little  burnt  clay,  dust,  or  fine  stone-powder  is  mixed 
with  the  raw,  branch  lacquer,  to  increase  the  extreme  hard- 
ness of  this  ground  coating.  By  mixing  a little  drying  oil 
with  lacquer,  its  transparency  is  increased,  and  when  dry 
has  a considerable  polish. 

5.  Colored  lacquers  are  produced  by  mixing  with  the 
crude  lacquer,  cinnabar,  orpiment,  red  oxide  of  iron,  Prus- 
sian blue,  etc.,  ground  very  fine,  and  the  mixture  strained 
very  carefully.  In  producing  objects  of  colored  lacquer, 
the  primary  coating  is  smoothed  and  polished  on  a grind- 
stone, two  or  three  coats  of  an  inferior  black  or  colored 
lacquer  are  applied,  and  when  dry  this  surface  is  ground 
with  charcoal  and  water.  The  final  coatings  of  the  purest 
lacquers  are  carefully  ground  and  polished  with  powdered 
deer  horn.  To  finish  an  object  of  black  lacquer,  it  is  re- 
peatedly rubbed  with  a ball  dipped  in  raw  lacquer,  and 
each  time  carefully  polished  with  deer-horn  powder. 

6.  Nashiji,  or  gold-sprinkled  lacquer,  is  produced  by 
sifting  particles  of  gold  leaf  on  a fresh  coat  of  raw  lacquer. 
When  hard  this  is  smoothed  over  and  covered  with  a 
mixture  of  Nashiji-urushi,  gamboge,  and  raw  lacquer, 
which  is  afterwards  ground  with  charcoal  to  the  required 
transparency,  and  carefully  polished.  For  the  commoner 
ware  tinfoil  is  used,  and  the  yellow  of  the  Nashiji-urushi 
gives  it  a gold-like  appearance. 

7.  The  relief  is  given  by  many  successive  coats,  mixed 
generally  with  red  oxide  of  iron  or  colcothar. 

8.  The  metallic  powders,  gold,  silver,  bronze,  etc.,  are 
applied  to  the  final  coating  before  it  has  hardened.  When 


72 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


hard,  the  surplus  powder  is  removed,  and  the  lacquer  pol- 
ished. 

9.  Carved  lacquer  was  introduced  into  J apan  by  a China  - 
man  about  the  year  1600,  and  is  principally  confined  to 
red  lacquer  in  imitation  of  the  Soo  Chow.  It  is  called 
Tsi-shu.  Occasionally  also  black  or  brown  lacquer  is 
carved. 

10.  Guribori  is  produced  by  thick  successive  layers  of 
various  colored  lacquer,  the  last  being  generally  brown, 
with  scroll  lines  engraved  deeply,  so  that  the  inclined  faces 
will  show  the  different  parallel  layers  of  color. 

11.  Lacquer  is  also  inlaid  with  gold,  silver,  bronze, 
mother  of  pearl,  ivory,  porcelain,  stones,  and  other  sub- 
stances. 

12.  Tsugaru  lacquer  presents  an  appearance  marbled 
in  red,  brown  and  green  veins.  A first  coat  of  black  is  ap- 
plied mixed  with  white  of  egg  or  bean  powder,  then 
tamped  with  a ball  of  cotton  to  produce  irregularities  on 
the  surface.  These  are  partially  ground  down  and  a sec- 
ond coating  of  different  color  applied.  The  same  opera- 
tion is  performed  and  repeated  until  all  the  colors  are  ap- 
plied, when  the  surface  is  ground  smooth,  and  presents 
most  beautiful  veins. 

13.  Wakasa  ware,  having  a lustrous  appearance  of  green 
and  red,  is  produced  by  placing  tin  foil  under  the  final 
coatings.  The  same  means  produce  the  brown  colors 
with  a metallic  lustre. 

14.  Gold  of  sixty  different  shades  of  color  is  used  in  the 
production  of  Makiye. 

Japanese  records  prove  that  lacquer  has  been  produced 
for  more  than  two  thousand  years ; its  durability  seems 
equal  to  the  hardest  substances,  even  to  works  of  bronze  ; 
neither  water  nor  heat  seems  to  affect  the  older  pieces.  It 


LACQUER. 


73 


has  been  used  in  large  constructions  as  well  as  in  small 
works  of  art.  The  ceilings,  walls,  pillars,  and  whole  inte- 
riors of  temples  have  been  decorated  with  it. 

The  solidity  and  durability  of  lacquer  objects  depend 
not  so  much  on  the  outer  coatings  as  on  the  priming. 
When  this  priming  has  been  properly  done,  their  dura- 
bility-is  unlimited,  as  may  be  understood  by  examining 
pieces  now  four  or  five  hundred  years  old.  A test  of  the 
most  severe  nature  was  unwittingly  made  in  1874,  when 
the  steamer  “ Nile,”  returning  to  Japan  with  the  goods 
bought  for  the  Yeddo  Museum  at  the  Vienna  Exposition 
of  1873,  foundered  off  the  coast  of  Japan  in  twenty-five 
fathoms  of  water.  Japanese  divers  succeeded  in  recover- 
ing two  hundred  cases  from  the  ship,  among  which  were 
several  pieces  of  fine  and  carefully  made  old  lacquer. 
One  of  these,  a very  handsome  music  stand,  which  was 
under  water  over  eighteen  months,  we  most  carefully  ex- 
amined, and  with  the  exception  of  the  tarnished  silver 
mountings,  the  piece  was  as  perfect  in  its  joints  and  in  the 
color  and  polish  of  its  lacquer  as  when  it  left  the  hands  of 
its  artistic  maker.  Not  so,  however,  with  most  of  the 
modern  pieces,  which  had  cracked  and  split  open,  and  from 
which,  in  many  cases,  the  lacquer  had  warped  and  fallen 
off. 

In  Japan  lacquer  bowls  are  used  for  hot  wines,  liquors, 
soups  and  other  hot  dishes.  In  the  cheaper  modern 
objects  made  for  foreign  markets,  the  priming  is  done 
with  glue  or  paste,  and  such  pieces  will  not  stand  either 
the  continuous  action  of  water  or  of  dry  heat.  At  present 
the  finest  lacquer  is  made  at  Tokio  (Yeddo)  and  Kiyoto, 
commoner  kinds  in  the  provinces  of  Aidzu  and  Yechizen. 

Freshly  lacquered  objects  are  placed  in  close  wooden 
boxes  which  have  been  sprinkled  with  water,  so  that  the 


74 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


hardening  takes  place  in  the  dark,  clear  of  all  dust,  and 
in  a damp  atmosphere.  It  is  also  said  that  some  artists 
finish  their  fine  work  at  sea  to  be  perfectly  free  from  dust. 
The  finest  quality  and  most  esteemed  was  produced 
between  A.  D.  1550  and  1650,  and  the  same  causes  which 
produced  the  magnificent  architecture  and  painting  in 
Europe  during  the  times  of  feudalism  conspired  to  produce 
these  magnificent  specimens  of  lacquer  in  Japan. 


SWORDS. 


In  no  country  has  the  sword  been  made  an  object  of  such 
honor  as  in  Japan.  The  most  minute  detailed  etiquette 
presided  over  it.  It  is  at  once  a divine  symbol,  a knightly 
weapon,  and  a certificate  of  noble  birth.  “ The  girded 
sword  is  the  soul  of  the  Samurai.”  The  gods  wore  and 
wielded  two-edged  swords.  From  the  tail  of  the  Dragon 
was  born  the  sword  which  the  Sun  Goddess  gave  to  her 
grandson,  with  the  injunction : “ Combat  the  enemies  of 
thy  kingdom  with  this  sword,  and  slay  them  on  the  edge 
of  it.” 

Another  version  says  : “ When  Sosanoo  was  in  banish- 
ment an  eight-headed  dragon  had  eaten  up  all  the  virgins 
in  the  land.  He  enticed  the  dragon  to  drink  intoxicating 
liquor,  slew  him,  and  found  in  his  tail  a magnificent  sword, 
called  ‘ Cloud-cluster,’  which  became  one  of  the  three 
emblems  of  the  Japanese  sovereigns.  This  sword,  in  the 
hands  of  Yamato  Dake,  turned  the  flames  lit  by  the  Ainos 
to  destroy  the  Japanese  army,  and  consumed  them  or  set 
them  to  flight.  Yamato  Dake  did  this  by  cutting  down 
the  grass,  and  for  this  reason  he  changed  the  name  of  the 
sword  to  ‘ Grass-mower.’  ” 

The  Katana  (sword)  has  always  been  considered  the 
badge  of  gentle  condition  in  Japan,  and  has  ever  been 
associated  in  the  minds  of  foreigners  with  the  Yakunin 
(official),  or  the  Samurai  (daimio’s  armed  retainer).  The 


76 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


long  sword  was  used  for  fighting,  the  short  sword  for 
suicide.  Many  warriors  greatly  preferred  death  to  sur- 
render, and  always  wished  to  have  the  means  about  them. 
The  long  sword  was  never  used  for  suicide,  being  thought 
unworthy,  as  it  had  been  used  against  an  enemy. 

The  rules  of  observances  connected  with  the  wearing  of 
the  long  and  short  or  the  single  sword  were  most  minute, 
but  have  fallen  into  disuse.  Gradually  the  wearing  of 
these  weapons  had  almost  ceased,  and  with  the  opening 
of  Japan  to  the  intercourse  of  western  nations,  the  prac- 
tice, except  by  officers  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  was 
prohibited  by  the  government.  But  in  former  days  the 
most  trivial  breach  of  these  minute  observances  was  often 
the  cause  of  murderous  brawls  and  dreadful  reprisals. 
To  touch  another’s  weapon  or  to  come  into  collision  with 
the  sheath  was  a dire  offence,  and  to  enter  a friend’s 
house  without  leaving  the  sword  outside  a breach  of 
friendship.  Those  whose  position  justified  the  accom- 
paniment of  an  attendant  invariably  left  the  sword  in  his 
charge  at  the  entrance,  or,  if  alone,  it  was  usually  laid 
down  at  the  entrance.  If  removed  inside  this  was  in- 
variably done  by  the  host’s  servants,  and  then  not  touched 
with  the  bare  hand,  but  with  a silk  napkin,  kept  for  the 
purpose ; the  sword  was  placed  upon  a sword-rack,  in  the 
place  of  honor,  near  the  guest,  and  treated  with  all  the 
politeness  due  to  an  honored  visitor  who  would  resent  a 
discourtesy. 

The  long  sword  (if  two  were  worn)  was  withdrawn 
sheathed  from  the  girdle  with  the  right  hand,  and  placed 
on  the  right  side,  an  indication  of  friendship,  as  it  could 
not  be  drawn  and  used  thus ; never  was  it  drawn  with  the 
left  hand,  or  placed  on  the  left  side,  except  when  in  im- 
mediate danger  of  attack.  To  exhibit  a naked  weapon 


SWORDS. 


77 


was  a gross  insult,  unless  when  a gentleman  wished  to 
show  his  friends  his  collection.  To  express  a wish  to  see 
a sword  was  not  usual,  unless  a blade  of  great  value  was 
in  question,  when  such  a request  would  be  a compli- 
ment the  happy  possessor  would  appreciate.  The  sword 
would  then  be  handed  with  the  back  towards  the  guest,  the 
edge  turned  towards  the  owner  and  the  hilt  to  the  left, 
the  guest  wrapping  the  hilt,  either  in  a sheet  of  clean  paper 
or  in  the  little  silk  napkin  always  carried  by  gentlemen 
in  their  pocket-books.  The  weapon  was  drawn  from  the 
scabbard  and  admired  inch  by  inch,  but  not  to  the  full 
length,  unless  the  owner  pressed  his  guest  to  do  so,  when 
with  much  apology  the  sword  was  entirely  drawn  and 
held  away  from  the  other  persons  present.  After  being 
admired,  it  would,  if  apparently  necessary,  be  carefully 
wiped  with  a special  cloth,  sheathed  and  returned  to  the 
owner  as  before. 

The  short  sword  was  retained  in  the  girdle,  but  at  a 
prolonged  visit  both  host  and  guest  laid  it  aside.  Women 
did  not  wear  swords  in  their  girdles  by  right  or  fashion, 
although  when  travelling  it  was  often  done.  On  the  occa- 
sion of  fires,  the  ladies  of  the  Palace  sometimes  placed 
side-arms  in  their  girdles. 

The  ordinary  length  of  the  Katana  blade  was  2 feet 
two  inches;  the  small  sword,  or  Wakizashi,  worn  with  it,  1 
foot  to  inches.  In  full  dress  the  color  of  the  scabbard  was 
black,  with  a slight  tinge  of  green  or  red ; the  binding  of 
the  hilt,  blue  silk ; the  mountings  of  the  guard  and  hilt 
shakudo  (alloy  of  copper  and  gold).  The  names  of 
makers  are  innumerable,  and  each  has  his  particular  form 
of  blade,  etc.,  and  mode  of  welding  the  hard  metal  of  the 
edge  to  the  softer  and  tougher  body  and  backing. 

Swords  more  than  three  centuries  old  are  common 


78 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


enough,  and  all  of  a later  date  are  called  “ new  blades  ” 
(Shinto).  There  are  blades  known  to  be  nearly  ten  cen- 
turies old,  though  these  are  very  rare  now.  Ama-kuni 
and  Shin-soku  are  two  of  the  oldest  makers  whose  swords 
are  still  in  existence. 

The  Chisa-katana  is  about  two  feet  long  to  two  and  a half 
feet,  and  lighter  than  the  ordinary  blade,  and  is  worn  with  the 
naga  hakama  and  court-dress  called  daimon  (large  crest). 
The  Metezashi  (right-hand  use)  is  a short  sword,  stuck  in 
the  girdle  behind,  the  hilt  to  the  right,  used  in  fighting  if 
the  wearer  be  thrown  and  unable  to  draw  the  swords  on  the 
left  side  of  the  girdle.  The  Aikuchi  is  a short  dirk  without 
a guard,  worn  by  doctors,  artists,  and  those  with  the  rank  of 
Hoin  and  Hogen  (about  equal  to  officials  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  ranks).  The  Tanto  and  Mamori  katana  are  stilettos 
about  a foot  or  less  long,  worn  in  the  girdle  by  officers,  gen- 
tlemen, and  nobles,  in  place  of  the  more  cumbrous  Waki- 
zashi.  The  Jintachi  (war  sword),  a long  heavy  two-handed 
sword,  generally  carried  by  a sword-bearer  when  not  in 
immediate  use.  The  Nodatchi  is  a sword  of  medium 
size,  worn  when  hunting  or  rambling  in  country  places  for 
pleasure.  The  Tatchi  is  hung  from  the  girdle  by  two 
slings ; there  are  several  styles.  The  Shin-no-tatchi  has 
a shagreen  hilt,  and  on  the  guard  and  scabbard  and  other 
mountings  there  should  be  seventy-five  examples  of  the 
crest  of  the  owner.  The  Yefu-no-tatchi  has  a lacquered 
and  gilt  scabbard  ; the  Sayamaki  is  a portion  of  the  scab- 
bard bound  with  silk.  The  mountings  are  numerous  and 
the  making  of  them  is  a special  and  honorable  trade.  Goto 
Yujo  was  a celebrated  maker  of  the  XVth  century  whose 
descendants  still  exist.  The  work  of  this  family  is  called 
Iyebori  (the  family’s  chasings). 

The  first  group  called  “ articles  of  three  places,”  com- 


SWORDS. 


79 


prises,  first,  the  ferrule  on  the  head  of  the  hilt,  and  the  ring 
behind  the  guard  ; second,  the  two  pieces  of  metal  inter- 
woven with  the  silk  binding  of  the  hilt,  used  to  hide  the 
hole  of  the  rivet,  and  to  ensure  a better  and  firmer  grasp 
of  the  sword-hilt ; and  third,  the  small  knife  and  skewer- 
like pieces  of  metal  inserted  into  the  scabbard  so  as 
to  be  drawn  out  for  use  at  pleasure.  The  small  knife 
(Ko-katana)  bore  the  owner’s  name  engraved  upon 
it.  When  the  murder  of  a relative  was  avenged,  at  night 
or  in  a secret  place,  the  head  of  the  victim  was  cut  off,  and 
the  avenger  plucking  out  his  Ko-katana,  thrust  it  in  the  ear 
of  the  victim,  and  let  it  lie  on  the  public  highway,  or  sent 
it  to  be  deposited  before  the  gate  of  the  victim’s  house  ; 
the  Ko-katana  with  the  name  engraved  on  it  told  the  whole 
story.  The  two  skewers  were  formerly  used  to  thrust 
through  the  top-knot  of  the  head  of  a decapitated  enemy 
to  carry  it,  but  they  are  now  used  as  chop  sticks. 

The  guard  (Tsubu)  is  often  a wonderful  piece  of  work- 
manship in  metal.  Those  of  Nanban  (southern  iron)  were 
considered  the  best,  though  other  valuable  metals,  worked 
up  with  gold,  silver,  etc.,  into  a detailed  picture  of 
battles,  hunting,  or  scenery,  were  used.  Nearly  every  ar- 
ticle connected  with  the  sword  was  richly  inlaid  to  corres- 
pond. Guards  were  also  made  of  several  thicknesses  of 
leather  or  raw  hide,  called  Neritsuba,  of  Shakudo,  of  Shib- 
uichi,  of  solid  silver,  gold,  and  iron.  The  Seppa  are  washers 
of  which  there  is  one  or  more  above  and  below  the  guard, 
made  of  flat  pieces  of  metal,  brass,  silver  or  gold.  The 
Habaki  is  a ferrule  on  the  “ forte  ” of  the  sword  extending 
about  an  inch  below  the  guard,  made  of  the  same  metal 
as  the  Seppa.  The  Kojiri  is  the  ornamental  ferrule  on  the 
lower  end  of  the  scabbard,  often  very  expensively  inlaid  to 
match  the  other  mountings.  The  Kurikata  is  the  small 


8o 


Japanese’  section. 


cleat  on  the  scabbard  through  which  the  Sage-wo,  or  silk 
cord,  is  rove ; this  is  of  various  materials  and  generally 
made  as  part  of  the  scabbard.  The  Saguri  is  a small 
hook  on  the  scabbard  to  prevent  the  sword  slipping  too 
far  through  the  girdle.  The  Tskaito  is  the  silk  cord 
bound  crosswise  on  the  hilt.  There  are  several  styles 
of  binding,  Maki,  Dashi  me  nuki,  Katate  maki,  Neomaki, 
etc.  Some  swords  have  only  short  skin  hilts  without  silk, 
but  generally  the  silk  binding  is  over  the  skin  (Same), 
those  pieces  having  the  largest  nodules  being  most 
valuable. 

The  sheath  or  scabbard  (Scia)  is  made  of  a wood  called 
Ho,  generally  lacquered.  Black  and  dark  colors  are  pre- 
ferred : gaudy  crimson  and  variegated  colors  are  affected 
by  the  old  “swashbucklers.”  Leather  covers  are  worn 
over  the  handsomely  lacquered  scabbards  ; shark-skin 
ground  down,  inlaid  with  shell-work  or  peculiar  kinds  of 
lacquer,  is  sometimes  seen  on  scabbards.  The  Sage-wo  is 
the  long  silk  cord,  of  various  kinds  and  colors  of  sennet, 
about  five  feet  in  length  for  large  swords,  half  that  for  short 
swords,  used  to  bind  up  the  sleeves  preparatory  to  fighting. 
On  j'ourneys  the  gentleman’s  sword-bearer  carried  the 
honored  blade  covered  with  the  Shiki  hada,  a sword-case 
of  leather  or  cloth  emblazoned  with  the  owner’s  crest. 

Celebrated  Swords  and  Makers. 

Old  weapons  are  frequently  presented  to  Kami  shrines, 
especially  those  dedicated  to  Hachiman  and  Dai  Jin  Gu. 
The  following  are  some  of  the  numberless  renowned  blades 
and  their  forgers.  Ama-kuni  of  Yamato,  who  lived 
about  A.  D.  700,  was  a celebrated  maker.  One  of  his 
blades  is  said  to  have  been  carried  off  by  a crow  during 


SWORDS. 


81 


the  reign  of  Kuwammu-Tenno,  A.  D.  782,  and  has  since 
been  known  by  the  name  of  the  Kogarasu  maru  * (little 
crow).  In  A.  D.  940  Taira  Sadamori  became  the  posses- 
sor of  this  sword,  which  was  drawn  by  him  in  the  wars 
with  Masakado,  who  was  until  lately  deified  at  Kanda, 
Yeddo.  Shin-soku,  who  lived  at  Usa  no  Mia  of  Buzen, 
was  ordered  to  forge  a blade  for  the  son  of  the  Emperor 
Heizei  Tenno  in  A.  D.  806,  and  he  cut  his  name  on  the 
blade,  the  first  time  this  was  done.  There  is  a legend 
that  Riu  Jin-t  came  to  his  assistance.  Of  ninety -nine 
swords  he  is  said  to  have  made,  only  eight  had  his  name 
on  them,  and  the  Hachiman  shrines  are  named  as  being 
in  possession  of  most  of  these  blades,  many  of  which  are 
now  little  else  than  a mass  of  rust. 

Ohara  Taru  daiyu  Yasutsuna  of  Hoki,  a contemporary 
of  Shin-soku,  forged  a blade  which  in  A.  D.  947  was  used 
by  Raiko  (Minamoto  Yorimitzu)  to  kill  Shi  ten  d6ji,  a 
celebrated  robber.  He  dreamed  that  this  sword,  then  still 
at  the  IsS  shrine,  alone  had  power  to  break  through  the 

* Names  were  given  to  swords  as  to  vessels,  horses,  and  other 
favorite  possessions ; the  commonly  used  affix  Maru  meaning 
perfect.  Formerly  even  the  young  sons  of  nobles  were  thus 
styled,  as  Take  chi  yo  maru,  a common  title  for  the  heir  to  the 
Tolcugawa  line;  as  also  to  castles,  such  as  Hon  maru  (true  perfect), 
or  Nishi  maru  (west  perfect). 

t Riu  Jin  is  the  same  as  the  old  man  living  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  in  Riugu  (Dragon  Shrine).  The  father  of  Toyotama  hime,  Hiko, 
quarrelled  with  his  brother,  and  descending  into  the  depths  of  the 
sea  became  enamored  of  Toyo,  and  lived  with  her  in  coral  caves 
until  she  was  about  to  bring  forth  her  child.  Hiko  then  built  her 
a hut  on  the  seashore,  roofing  it  with  cormorants’  wings.  Here 
Fuki  was  born,  and  his  mother  Toyo  then  became  a crocodile, 
and  returned  to  her  home  in  the  deep,  Hiko  having  displeased 
her.  She  left  her  sister  Tama-yori-hime  behind,  who  married 
Fukiawasedzu,  and  Jimmu  Tenno  was  their  fourth  child. 


82 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


spell  of  invincibility  that  surrounded  this  celebrated  robber, 
who  is  even  now  known  to  children  as  a ghoul.  This 
sword  was  placed  in  the  Is£  Mia  as  an  offering  by  the 
Shogun  Tamura.  Another  sword  of  the  same  make  was 
likewise  placed  at  Kehi-miojin  in  Echigo  by  the  Shogun 
Toshihito. 

Ohara  Sane-mori,  another  maker  of  celebrated  swords, 
lived  at  the  same  time.  One  of  his  blades  was  called 
Nuke  maru,  from  its  having  flown  out  of  its  sheath  and 
destroyed  the  Ja  (enormous  serpent)  that  came  to  swallow 
up  Taira  Tadamori,  who  had  laid  the  weapon  sheathed 
beside  his  pillow  when  lying  down  to  rest.  Another 
blade  called  Korgarashi  maru,  in  the  possession  of  the 
Heiki  family,  was  reputed  to  cause  trees  to  wither  if  it  was 
laid  down  touching  them. 

About  A.  D.  985,  Yukihira  was  another  celebrated 
sword-maker.  One  of  his  swords  was  used  by  Watanabe, 
the  follower  of  Yorimitzu  (Raiko),  to  cut  off  the  arm  of  the 
Onie  (ghoul)  when  sent  by  Raiko  to  exterminate  the 
wicked  ghouls,  dragons,  ja,  etc. 

There  lived  A.  D.  1003,  in  Yamashiro,  Yoshi  iye,  to 
whom  appeared  Sumiyoslii  Daimo  Jin  (of  the  temple  of 
Osaka)  and  ordered  the  best  blade  that  could  be  welded. 
When  it  was  finished,  the  maker  was  on  his  way  to  the 
temple,  as  ordered,  but  while  crossing  the  water  he  drop- 
ped the  sword  into  its  depths.  A cormorant  dived,  and 
finding,  flew  away  with  it.  Shortly  afterwards  a new 
sword  was  found  at  the  shrine  of  Sumiyoshi,  which 
"proved  to  be  the  lost  blade,  and  it  is  now  called  Wuno 
muru  (Wu,  a cormorant). 

In  A.  D.  1204,  Yoshimitzu  worked  at  Awadaguchi,  in 
the  province  of  Yamashiro,  commonly  known  as  Toshiro. 
His  make  of  swords  having  cut  through  a druggist’s 


SWORDS. 


83 


metal  mortar  (called  Yagen),  are  known  as  Yagen 
Toshiro.  In  1279  Naga-mitzu  made  a sword,  afterwards 
worn  by  Iyeyasu,  called  Adzuki  naga-mitzu,  from  its  cut- 
ting a bean  (Adzuki)  thrown  into  the  air. 

A.  D.  1322,  Mura-masa  of  Senjiu  mura  in  Ise,  commonly 
• spoken  of  as  Senjiu-in  Mura-masa.  His  swords  would,  it 
is  said,  cut  a sheet  of  paper  floating  on  the  stream  if  the 
sword  were  only  held  in  the  water  to  meet  the  paper. 
Such  was  the  reputed  keenness  of  these  weapons,  and  so 
great  the  desire  to  test  it  possessed  the  owners,  that  when 
a fitting  opportunity  occurred,  the  Tokugawa  government 
forbade  their  being  worn. 

In  1326  Masa-mune,  the  most  celebrated  of  sword- 
makers,  forged  some  of  his  best  blades,  now  still  in  exist- 
ence. The  welding  shows  a peculiar  golden  tinge,  like 
forked  lightning  through  a dark  cloud.  He  folded  his 
metal  from  four  sides,  beat  it  out,  and  refolded  it  in  a 
peculiar  manner. 

All  swords  made  since  1570  are  called  Shinto  (new 
swords),  and  the  old  but  inferior  blades  are  included  with 
these.  The  swords  of  previous  make  are  called  Koto 
(old  swords).  Subsequent  makers  are  numerous,  but  as 
there  are  no  special  legends  connected  with  their  blades, 
or  particular  characteristics  pertaining  to  them,  the  list  of 
their  names  is  omitted  here.  The  edge  of  the  Japanese 
sword  is  tempered  separately  from  the  body  by  being 
covered  with  clay  when  placed  in  the  fire,  and  this  process 
brings  out  the  marking  peculiar  to  these  swords,  called 
ya-ki-ba  (burnt  head). 


BRONZES. 


In  bronze  and  other  metals  the  Japanese  need  fear  no 
comparison,  within  a certain  range  of  subjects,  with  the 
best  work  which  Europe  can  show.  In  artistic  treatment 
of  metals  of  small  groups  and  natural  objects,  such  as  are 
depicted  in  their  woodcuts,  they  have  attained  very  rare 
excellence;  and  in  nearly  every  department  in  casting, 
engraving,  chasing,  inlaying  and  damascening,  they  seem 
to  have  little,  if  anything,  to  learn  from  Europe.  In 
bronze  casting  and  moulding  they  may  be  considered 
masters.  They  are  equally  capable  of  colossal  and  minute 
work,  and  we  believe  there  are  processes  known  to  them 
of  which  we  are  wholly  ignorant.  Their  marvellous  deli- 
cacy of  touch  and  execution  is  more  remarkable,  because 
in  the  fashion  of  their  tools,  as  in  their  smelting  and 
refining  processes,  everything  is  of  the  most  primitive 
kind.  Their  ovens,  furnaces,  etc.,  are  simple  and  rude ; 
yet  judging  by  the  work,  they  have  a perfect  command  of 
their  materials,  from  the  ironstone  to  the  steel  of  their 
sword-blades. 

If  the  Japanese  have  borrowed  from  the  Chinese  in 
bronze  casting,  they  seem  to  have  nothing  to  learn  from 
us.  They  not  only  give  all  the  delicate  moulding  of  the 
lotus  leaf,  by  some  process  unknown,  but  produce  relief 
ornamentation  by  cutting  the  surrounding  metal  away. 
Such  relieved  work  they  further  enrich  with  the  burin  or 


BRONZES. 


85 


damascene  with  gold  and  silver.  Repousse  work  is  also 
known  and  practiced  by  them.  They  are  much  in  the 
habit  of  graving  diaper  and  other  patterns  on  bronzes  and 
filling  them  up  with  silver  wire.  They  thus  cover 
large  surfaces  of  salvers  or  vases  with  good  effect,  and 
very  original  designs  or  patterns.  The  Japanese  alloys 
are  mostly  used  for  ornamental  castings,  statues,  musical 
instruments  and  bells.  The  name  given  to*an  alloy  gen- 
erally corresponds  to  the  color  produced  by  the  treatment 
which  the  objects  have  to  undergo  before  they  are  finished ; 
thus  some  of  the  alloys  are  named  green  copper,  violet 
copper,  black  copper,  etc.  This  color  depends  both  upon 
the  composition  of  the  alloy  and  the  chemicals  used  in 
coloring  the  metal.  There  are  many  different  means  used 
to  produce  one  and  the  same  color,  and  it  so  happens  that 
almost  every  manufacturer  uses  particular  compositions  of 
his  own ; generally  it  is  only  the  proportions  that  differ, 
but  sometimes  even  the  constituent  elements  are  different, 
although  the  alloy  is  called  by  the  same  name. 

The  green  copper  (Sei-do)  is  composed  of  copper 
and  lead,  or  copper,  lead  and  tin  ; the  Sentoku-do,  of  cop- 
per, lead  and  spelter,  and,  similar  to  the  old  Corinthian 
alloy,  is  said  to  have  been  first  produced  by  a large  con- 
flagration which  took  place  in  China  during  the  earlier 
part  of  the  XVth  century.  The  black  alloy  called  U-do, 
of  copper,  lead  and  tin  ; the  brass,  of  copper  and  spelter, 
sometimes  with  a slight  addition  of  lead,  as  for  instance 
in  Yechiu,  one  of  the  chief  places  of  production  of  orna- 
mental castings  inlaid  with  gold  and  silver ; the  purple 
alloy  is  composed  of  copper  and  lead  ; the  so-called 
Gin-shibu-ichi  is  generally  composed  of  six  parts  of  cop- 
per or  alloy  and  four  parts  of  silver.  Another  peculiar 
composition  is  the  Shakudo,  copper  with  a small  per- 


86 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


centage  (two  to  five  per  cent.)  of  gold,  which  produces  a 
beautiful  dark  purple  color,  and  is  mostly  used  for  articles 
formed  by  hammering  or  for  repouss6  work,  generally 
inlaid  with  gold  and  silver  and  producing  designs  some- 
what similar  to  the  so-called  “ Niello  ” work. 

The  Japanese  word  for  bronze  is  Karakane,  which  means 
Chinese  metal.  The  industry  of  bronze  casting  is  of  very 
ancient  origin:  At  first  the  metal  was  brought  from  China 

or  Corea,  as  copper  was  only  discovered  in  Japan  at 
the  beginning  of  the  VUIth  century,  when  bronze 
casting  had  already  reached  a certain  state  of  perfection, 
since  Giyoki  the  priest,  who  introduced  the  potter’s  wheel, 
had  proposed  at  this  time  to  erect  a monster  statue  of 
Buddha.  His  proposal  was  accepted  and  carried  into  ef- 
fect by  order  of  the  Emperor  Shomu  (A.  D.  724-749). 
There  were  formerly  three  of  these  statues  in  Japan,  each 
about  fifty  feet  in  height.  The  most  ancient  one,  in  Nara, 
built  743-752,  was  in  the  first  place  .greatly  damaged  by 
an  earthquake,  which  caused  the  head  to  fall  off,  and  was 
afterwards  destroyed  by  a fire  which  broke  out  in  the  sur- 
rounding temple,  so  that  it  had  to  be  entirely  rebuilt 
towards  the  end  of  the  Xllth  century.  This  statue  still 
exists  in  Nara,  in  the  interior  of  a wooden  building  of  re- 
markable construction.  A second  one  of  similar  propor- 
tions existed  in  Kiyoto,  but  was  destroyed  by  fire.  The 
third  one  is  the  well-known  Daibutsu  of  Kamakura,  and 
was  built  in  the  Xlllth  century,  of  an  alloy  containing 
a small  percentage  of  gold.  Other  specimens  of  large 
bronze-castings  are  found  at  Nara,  Kiyoto,  Nikko,  Shiba 
in  Tokio,  in  the  famous  bells  which  have  an  average  height 
of  fifteen  feet  and  are  more  than  ten  feet  in  diameter. 

Statues  of  all  sizes,  bells,  vases,  water  basins,  candle- 
sticks, incense  burners,  lanterns,  etc.,  have  been  manu- 


BRONZES. 


87 


factured  in  large  quantities  for  temples  and  their  ap- 
proaches. Portrait  statues,  like  the  monuments  erected 
in  foreign  countries  to  honor  the  memory  of  celebrated 
men,  have  never  been  made  in  Japan.  As  articles  for 
household  uses  we  may  mention  fire-pots,  water-pots, 
flower  vases  and  basins  in  which  miniature  gardens  are 
made,  perfume  burners,  pencil  cases,  small  water-pots  of 
fanciful  shapes  for  writing  boxes,  paper  weights,  and  small 
figures  representing  divinities.  These  bronze  castings  are 
either  made  in  the  simple  and  severe  style  of  the  old 
celebrated  Chinese  bronzes,  or  else  are  specimens  of  the 
peculiar  character  of  Japanese  art,  which  chooses  its  subjects 
from  natural  life,  either  combining  them  with  lively  scenes 
showing  a great  deal  of  humor,  together  with  the  most 
minute  copying  of  nature,  or  else  using  them  to  produce 
an  artistic  effect,  often  in  a somewhat  capricious  way 
quite  unexpected  to  the  beholder.  Occasionally  the 
artist  takes  his  subjects  from  Chinese  and  Japanese  my- 
thology, and  produces  all  sorts  of  legendary  animals  such 
as  the  dragon,  the  stork,  the  tortoise,  etc.,  which  are 
largely  represented  on  the  candlesticks  and  other  castings 
used  in  temples  or  in  the  domestic  chapels.  The  bronze 
utensils  of  these  latter  are  generally  composed  of  five 
pieces,  two  flower  vases,  two  candlesticks,  and  one  incense 
burner. 

The  bronze  is  cast  in  clay  moulds  formed  upon  models 
made  of  a mixture  of  wax  and  resin,  which  is  melted  out 
from  the  finished  mould  previous  to  pouring  in  the  metal. 
The  artist  who  makes  the  model  generally  does  the  casting 
himself,  and  in  most  cases  the  workshops  consist  only  of 
the  master’s  family  and  two  or  three  assistants.  The 
melting  furnaces  are  of  exceedingly  small  dimensions,  and 
generally  made  of  an  iron  kettle  lined  with  clay.  After 


88 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


casting,  the  piece  is  carefully  corrected  and  worked  out 
by  chiselling,  but  the  best  bronze  workers  prepare  the 
model,  the  mould  and  the  alloy  in  such  a way  as  to  pro- 
duce castings  which  need  no  further  correcting  or  finish- 
ing. In  some  cases  also  the  whole  decoration  is  produced 
with  the  chisel  working  upon  a smooth  surface ; this,  for 
instance,  is  frequently  done  in  the  provinces  of  Kaga  and 
Yechiu,  which  are  very  important  centres  of  the  bronze 
industry.  The  bronzing  of  the  pieces  is  done  in  many 
different  ways,  each  manufacturer  having  his  own  par- 
ticular process,  which  he  modifies  according  to  the  com- 
position of  the  alloy  and  the  color  he  wishes  to  produce. 
The  chemicals  used  for  this  purpose  are  very  few  in 
number,  and  limited  to  vinegar,  copper  sulphate  and 
verdigris  as  the  principal  substances;  other  materials  used 
less  frequently  consist  of  iron  sulphate,  red  oxide  of  iron 
and  lacquer.  It  may  be  added  as  a peculiarity,  that  an 
infusion  of  Eryanthus  tinctorius  is  also  made  use  of  in 
the  bronzing  process. 

The  ornamentation  of  bronze  castings  is  not  only  pro- 
duced by  relief  patterns,  moulded  or  chiselled,  but  also  by 
inlaying  the  obj’ects  with  gold,  silver,  or  with  a different 
alloy.  This  kind  of  workmanship  is  called  “ Zogan,”  and 
is  principally  carried  on  in  the  provinces  of  Kaga  and 
Yechiu.  The  process  by  which  the  inlaid  work  is  effected 
differs  according  to  the  nature  of  the  material  on  which  it  is 
applied.  Sometimes  the  design  is  hollowed  out  to  a cer- 
tain depth  with  a graver  or  chisel,  and  the  ornamenting 
metal,  silver,  gold,  etc.,  generally  in  the  shape  of  threads, 
is  laid  into  the  hollow  spaces  and  hammered  over ; should 
the  alloy  be  soft  enough,  the  edges  of  these  grooves  are 
first  slightly  driven  up,  so  that  when  the  silver  or  gold  has 
been  laid  in  they  can  be  easily  hammered  down  again,  so 


BRONZES. 


89 


as  to  prevent  the  inlaid  metal  from  getting  loose,  or 
else  the  surface  is  merely  covered  in  the  required  places 
with  a narrow  network  of  lines  by  means  of  filing,  and  the 
thin  gold  or  silver  leaf  fastened  on  to  this  rough  surface 
by  hammering.  This  last  process  is  the  one  used  mostly 
for  inlaid  iron  work.  It  is  also  said  that  the  design  is 
often  produced  by  a process  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
so-called  “ Niello  ” ; only  instead  of  the  black  sulphuretted 
silver  and  copper,  a more  easily  fusible  alloy  is  used.  In- 
laid work  of  the  above  kind  is  principally  made  in  Kaga  and 
Yechiu,  at  Kanasawa  and  Takaoko,  where  the  alloy  used 
for  the  bronze  casting  is  mostly  composed  of  copper,  tin, 
zinc  and  lead. 

In  addition  to  the  castings,  the  repouss6  work  should  be 
mentioned,  by  which  mostly  small  metallic  ornaments  for 
swords,  tobacco  pouches,  etc.,  and  also  larger  pieces  such  as 
tea-pots,  scent-burners,  vases,  etc.,  are  produced.  The 
inlaying  of  this  kind  of  ware  is  sometimes  of  extraordinary 
delicacy  and  beauty.  The  dark  blue  color  shown  by  a 
great  number  of  smaller  pieces  is  that  of  the  Shakudo, 
composed  of  copper  and  two  or  five  per  cent,  of  gold. 

Finally,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  so-called 
“ Moku-me,”  a word  which  might  be  rendered  by  “veins 
of  the  wood.”  The  metal  work  designated  by  this  name 
presents  a sort  of  damask  pattern,  composed  of  variously 
colored  metals,  chiefly  white,  silver,  red  copper,  and  a 
dark  blue  alloy.  Pieces  of  this  very  difficult  sort  of 
workmanship  are  produced  by  overlaying  and  soldering 
together  a certain  number  of  plates  of  the  said  metals  or 
alloys,  by  hammering,  kneading,  resoldering,  filling  up 
the  hollow  spaces  with  new  metal,  and  repeating  these 
operations  many  times ; finally,  when  stretched  out  into 
a thin  sheet,  this  composition  shows  the  aforesaid  pattern 


90 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


all  composed  of  veins  of  the  different  metals  that  have 
been  used.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  bronze  castings, 
as  well  as  the  chiselled  or  inlaid  wrare,  belong  to  the  most 
remarkable  creations  of  Japanese  industry.  Whatever 
may  be  the  j’udgment  concerning  the  model  and  the 
patterns,  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  workmanship,  the 
patience  and  the  skill  by  which  the  most  complicated 
forms  are  produced,  as  well  as  the  art  of  combining 
variously  colored  metals,  merit  the  highest  praise  and 
attention  of  connoisseurs. 

The  large  bronze  Koro  (incense  burner)  in  the  centre 
of  the  gallery  was  dedicated  in  the  year  1700  to  the 
Sacred  Temple  of  Kanyeizi,  in  Uyeno,  Tokio,  where  it 
filled  the  place  of  honor  until  1867,  the  year  of  the  over- 
throw of  the  great  Tokugawa  Shogun.  The  results  of  the 
revolution  were  fatal  to  the  revenues  of  the  priests,  who 
were  forced  to  part  with  their  treasures.  The  Koro  was 
purchased  by  a bronze  collector  in  Tokio,  whence  it  found 
its  way  to  this  collection. 

Among  the  noted  bronze  workers  represented  in  this 
collection  may  be  mentioned  Gorosa,  whose  descendants 
to  the  ninth  generation  still  produce  artistic  work; 
Saymin,  the  founder  of  a school  of  workers  early  in  the 
XVIIIth  century,  whose  designs  and  castings  are  un- 
rivalled; also  his  pupils,  To-un,  Gui-do,  So-min,  Shing- 
amitz,  Doo-min,  and  Ka-ya-sai ; of  this  school  there  are 
some  fifty  examples  in  the  collection. 


PAINTING. 


The  first  essays  in  painting  in  Japan  have  left  no  traces, 
and  the  date  of  these  first  efforts  is  unknown.  But  during: 
the  seventh  year  of  the  reign  of  Yuriaku  (A.  D.  463), 
this  prince  sent  to  Corea  in  search  of  artists,  and  among 
those  who  were  brought  back  was  a painter  named 
Inshiraga.  The  productions  of  this  period,  however,  have 
not  come  down  to  us,  and  the  earliest  painting  we  now 
possess  is  the  portrait  of  the  prince  Sho-toku-taishi.  This 
painting,  executed  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Suiko, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Vllth  century,  is  preserved  as  a 
most  precious  relic  of  the  past  in  the  temple  of  Horiuji  in 
the  Province  of  Yamato. 

About  this  period  the  government  created  an  Adminis- 
tration of  Painting,  at  first  called  the  Guwa-Koshi,  which 
was  afterwards  in  A.  D.  808  changed  to  Edokoro.  The 
style  of  painting  of  this  period  was  vigorous,  yet  of  fine 
detail.  Unfortunately  little  by  little  a new  school  was 
formed,  which  occupied  itself  with  mere  portraits  of 
noblemen  in  court  costumes  loaded  down  with  ornaments, 
a sad  falling  off  in  an  artistic  sense.  The  principal  artist 
of  this  school  was  Tsunetaka,  the  Director  of  the  Edokoro, 
whose  official  title  was  Tosagon-no-kami.  His  descend- 
ants took  later  the  name  of  Tosa,  which  they  adopted  as 
their  family  name,  whence  the  word  Tosae  given  to  this 
school. 


92 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


In  the  beginning*  of  the  XIVth  century  appeared  the 
celebrated  painters  Kao,  Meicho,  Josetsu,  Shubun,  and 
others.  These  great  painters  had  studied  the  Chinese 
paintings  of  the  Tsong  and  Kin  dynasties.  Succeeding 
these  was  the  priest  Sesshu,  an  equally  celebrated  artist ; 
and  finally  Kano-masanobu,  the  originator  of  Sagami,  and 
his  son  Motonobu,  were  equally  painters  of  great  renown. 
Their  descendants  have  followed  in  their  footprints  to  our 
own  day,  especially  the  Kano  and  Tosa  families,  who  have 
among  them  several  artists  of  deserved  reputation. 

During  the  period  of  Tensho  (1570)  a painter  named 
Iwasa  Matabe,  a student  of  the  Tosae  school,  devoted 
himself  to  representing  the  manners  and  customs  of  his 
country.  Hishigawa  Moronobu,  one  of  his  imitators,  who 
lived  in  Yeddo  in  1690,  was  the  founder  of  the  school  of 
Utagawa.  About  1720,  during  the  Kiohd  period,  a cele- 
brated Chinese  painter  named  Chin-nam-ping  came  to 
Nagasaki,  where  he  soon  acquired  a great  reputation  and 
many  scholars  ; and  as  he  was  followed  by  other  artists 
not  less  renowned,  such  as  Chinumei,  Shabuson,  and 
others,  Chinese  painting  soon  became  popular  and  its 
influence  was  diffused  throughout  Japan. 

But  of  all  the  painters  of  Japan  he  who  has  won  the 
most  renown  both  abroad  and  at  home  is  Hokusai,  born 
in  1760,  died  1849.  This  illustrious  man,  like  the  great 
Millet  of  France,  drew  his  inspirations  from  the  labor  and 
daily  vocations  of  the  people.  He  was  treated  with  con- 
tempt by  the  nobles,  but  beloved  by  the  masses,  to  escape 
whose  importunities  he  was  often  forced  to  change  both 
his  residence  and  his  name.  His  style  has  had  many 
followers. 

Japanese  painting  can  be  divided  under  two  heads. 
First,  paintings  which  represent  historical  costumes,  furni- 


PAINTING. 


93 


ture,  etc. ; the  characteristic  of  this  work  is  that  it  presents 
the  object  in  all  its  detail  of  form,  color  and  appearance, 
without  either  shadow  or  perspective.  Second,  paintings 
which  represent  landscapes,  portraits,  animals,  horticul- 
ture, etc.,  with  the  same  characteristic  of  truth  to  nature, 
but  finished  under  the  laws  of  perspective  and  shadow. 
Paintings  called  Sumie  are  those  executed  exclusively  in 
India  ink.  Originally  this  style  was  accepted  only  by 
the  literati  and  poets,  whose  love  for  nature  and  good 
taste  alone  could  appreciate  them,  the  popular  voice  call- 
ing for  color.  Many  of  the  painters  who  followed  this 
school,  desiring  to  represent  serious  subjects,  have  over- 
come the  imperfections  in  the  drawings  by  inserting  verses 
of  poetry.  The  rules  applicable  to  this  style  of  execution 
are  few  and  vague,  and  whilst  the  execution  is  always 
broad,  yet  certain  careful  details  will  always  be  found. 

The  favorite  themes  for  these  artists  are  picturesque 
valleys,  steep  mountain  sides  or  rocky  shores,  the  desire 
of  the  artist  being  to  carry  the  spectator  in  imagination  to 
those  spots  and  fill  him  with  his  own  poetry  and  the 
poetry  of  the  surroundings.  Of  late  years  much  attention 
has  been  paid  to  European  styles  of  genre  painting,  and 
already  many  very  good  examples  of  such  work  show  the 
progress  made  in  this  direction. 


CARVINGS. 


Mr.  Audsley,  in  his  “ Notes  on  Japanese  Art,”  very  truly 
says,  “ Of  all  the  carved  work  of  the  Japanese,  the  most 
wonderful  and  interesting  are  the  ivories  called  Netsukes ; 
these  consist  of  groups  of  animals  and  grotesque  figures 
and  representations,  indeed  of  nearly  every  natural  object 
in  Japan,  most  truthfully  rendered.  It  is  quite  impossible 
to  give  any  idea  in  words  of  the  quaint  humor,  the  broad 
caricature,  the  intense  power  of  expression,  and  the  general 
artistic  excellence  which  stamp  every  netsuke  in  which 
the  human  form  appears,  with  an  individuality,  distinct 
from  anything  of  a kindred  nature  produced  in  other 
lands.” 

As  an  example  of  the  perfection  of  the  work  of  these 
ivory  carvers  even  at  the  present  day,  we  would  call 
attention  to  the  large  tusk,  seven  inches  in  diameter,  which 
was  exhibited  in  the  Egyptian  Department  at  the  Phila- 
delphia Centennial,  and  purchased  by  the  Japanese,  who 
were  commissioned  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  most 
expert  artist  in  Japan.  He  took  three  years  to  produce 
this. work  of  art,  and  chose  for  his  subject  the  moment 
when  Yoshitsun6,  the  Chevalier  Bayard  of  Japanese  history, 
betrayed  by  his  Imperial  brother,  whose  throne  he  had 
assured,  is  about  to  embark  upon  the  vessel  which  was  to 
separate  him  from  his  beloved  home  forever,  sacrificing 
himself  rather  than  bring  civil  war  upon  his  country. 


CLOISONNE  ENAMEL. 


This  industry  is  largely  practiced  both  in  China  and 
Japan.  But  little  is  known,  however,  in  regard  to  its 
history  in  China,  where  it  originated,  and  whence  it  was 
introduced  into  Japan  towards  the  end  of  the  XVIth 
century.  It  became  the  local  industry  of  three  villages 
in  the  province  of  Owari,  not  far  from  the  town  of  Nagoya. 
The  process  consists  of  soldering  the  edges  of  flat  brass 
wires  on  the  surface  of  copper  vessels,  and  filling  in  the 
cells  formed  by  the  winding  and  crossing  of  this  wire,  with 
vitrifiable  colors,  which  are  then  baked,  ground  and  pol- 
ished. 

The  design  to  be  produced  is  given  to  the  workman 
drawn  upon  paper.  He  covers  it  with  a plate  of  glass, 
and  bends  the  wire  to  fit  the  lines  of  the  design  until  all 
are  reproduced.  He  then  fixes  the  shaped  wire  design 
upon  the  copper  vessel  by  means  of  a gummy  decoction, 
made  of  the  root  of  a kind  of  orchis.  When  the  wire  has 
been  all  thus  attached,  it  is  further  fastened  in  place  with 
brass  solder  and  borax,  applied  with  a brush  wherever  re- 
quired ; and  the  piece  is  baked  in  a charcoal  fire.  The 
cells  thus  formed  are  then  filled  with  vitrifiable  enamels 
and  fired ; this  latter  process  has  usually  to  be  repeated 
several  times  before  the  requisite  thickness  and  uniformity 
is  acquired ; the  surface  is  then  ground  down  with  coarse 
and  fine-grained  stones,  and  finally  polished  with  charcoal. 


96 


JAPANESE  SECTION. 


At  Kiyoto,  Osaka,  Tokio,  and  also  in  Owari,  porcelain 
objects  are  treated  in  the  same  manner.  For  this  purpose 
the  parts  to  receive  the  application  are  either  left  unglazed, 
or  the  glaze  is  ground  off  and  the  wires  fastened,  not  with 
solder,  but  with  a very  fusible  glass. 

Great  quantities  of  cloisonn6  enamels  are  annually  ex- 
ported from  China  and  Japan.  The  general  style  of  the 
Chinese  decorations  on  these  objects  is  similar  to  that 
on  their  bronzes,  and  the  combination  and  quality  of 
colored  enamels  is  often  very  effective ; flower  designs  are 
also  occasionally  met  with.  Early  Japanese  cloisonne 
workers  copied  these  designs,  but  soon  adopted  their  own 
national  characteristics  of  decoration.  The  dragon,  the 
hoho,  and  other  mythological  creatures,  and  even  human 
figures  and  landscapes,  are  reproduced  by  the  Japanese 
enamellers. 


ANCIENT  POTTERIES. 


V 


' 


PREHISTORIC. 


The  Ceramic  Art  is  the  oldest  and  most  universally 
practiced  of  all  the  arts.  It  was  admired  before  any 
knowledge  or  experience  of  Sculpture  or  Painting  existed. 
It  has  affected  the  taste  of  every  people  with  or  without  a 
claim  to  culture.  From  the  prehistoric  age  to  the  present 
time  it  has  been  continuous  ; in  the  history  of  all  nations 
it  has  been  where  art  began.  When  the  Egyptian  or  In- 
dian smeared  his  earthenware  with  poor  color  and  drew  a 
zigzag  line  with  a stick  around  his  clay  vessel,  he  revealed 
the  incipient  symptoms  in  the  direction  of  art  in  decora- 
tion as  well  as  in  form. 

The  period  which  elapsed  between  the  time  of  the  for- 
mation of  these  first  simple  vessels  from  dried  clay,  and  of 
the  highly  fused  and  refractory  porcelain,  has  been  thou- 
sands of  years,  and  the  steps  of  progress  slow  and  uncer- 
tain ; nor  can  any  date  be  fixed  for  the  origin  of  baked  clay 
pottery.  Its  production  was  primeval  with  the  earliest 
dates  of  historical  records,  the  oldest  and  most  valuable  of 
which  are  burial  places  and  tombs;  of  these  many  have 
remained  unopened  and  undiscovered  for  decades  of  cen- 
turies. Rudely  shaped  vessels  of  baked  clay  are  found  in 
the  lake  dwellings  of  Switzerland  and  in  the  sepulchres  of 
the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Northern  Europe.  Dates  can 
only  be  affixed  to  these  by  approximation,  and  doubtless 
many  belong  to  the  Stone  Age.  The  earliest  dates  which 
can  be  affixed  with  any  degree  of  precision  are  to  vessels 
of  burnt  clay  discovered  in  Egyptian  tombs  built  2500 
years  B.  C. 


IOO 


ANCIENT  POTTERIES. 


EGYPTIAN. 

The  Egyptians,  centuries  before  our  era,  produced  small 
objects  such  as  amulets,  charms,  small  figures  of  gods, 
scarabei,  etc.,  by  carving  them  in  a kind  of  soapstone, 
which  was  covered  with  glaze  and  baked,  thus  producing 
a kind  of  pottery.  Scarabei  have  been  found  bearing  the 
date  of  2020  B.  C. 

The  artistic  Egyptian  pottery  is  siliceous,  between 
earthenware  and  porcelain,  its  grain  is  very  fine,  resisting 
the  greatest  heats,  and  it  is  generally  covered  with  thin 
glaze,  colored  blue  or  green  by  oxides  of  copper.  Soft 
pottery  was  produced  from  the  earliest  ages ; it  was  gen- 
erally unglazed  and  undecorated,  though  sometimes 
ornamented  with  geometrical  figures.  Since  the  time  of 
the  Ptolemies  a lustred  ware  has  been  made  ornamented 
with  characteristic  but  inartistic  paintings ; after  the 
Ptolemies  Egyptian  art  lost  its  originality,  influenced  by 
the  Greeks  and  afterwards  by  the  Romans  during  their 
domination. 

The  Israelites  produced  in  Judea  the  same  kind  of 
pottery  which  their  forefathers  had  made  in  Egypt  before 
their  expulsion ; this  is  seen  in  fragments  at  the  Louvre, 
which  show  the  same  siliceous  earth  enamelled  in  blue. 

ASSYRIAN. 

Assyrian  pottery  was  the  stepping-stone  from  Egyptian 
to  Grecian,  and  is  principally  known  by  bricks  of  a 
slightly  rose-white  earth,  with  a surface  not  enamelled  but 
covered  with  a glaze,  the  predominant  color  of  which  is 
the  turquoise  blue.  A date  anterior  to  522  B.  C.  can  be 
affixed  with  certainty  to  the  production  of  this  pottery,  as 


PERSIAN. 


IOI 


in  that  year  Darius  destroyed  the  city  of  Babylon,  among 
whose  ruins  many  of  these  bricks  have  been  found. 
Mr.  Loftus  reports  that  he  found  at  Warka  bricks  bearing 
the  name  of  Uruk  (about  2200  B.  C.).  They  were  gen- 
erally ornamented  with  arabesques,  but  several  walls  have 
been  uncovered,  decorated  with  paintings  of  figures,  ani- 
mals and  trees. 

Assyrian  coffins  are  found  of  baked  clay  covered  with 
a green  glaze,  and  contain  among  other  things  objects  of 
pottery  and  earthen  figures,  some  of  which  are  modelled 
with  delicacy.  They  learned  the  art  of  glazing  from 
Egypt  and  became  very  perfect  in  its  use.  We  find 
pieces  carefully  embossed  and  enriched  with  green,  yellow, 
brown,  and  various  other  colored  glazes,  and  they  seem  to 
have  made  gold  decorations  at  an  early  date.  Later, 
when  the  Greeks  spread  their  influence  through  Asia 
Minor,  their  artistic  influence  can  be  traced  upon  the  work 
of  Assyrian  potters. 

One  of  the  first  uses  made  of  pottery  was  as  tablets  for 
records ; impressions  were  made  on  soft  clay,  which  was 
then  fired.  Some  of  these  tablets  have  come  down  to  our 
age  in  perfect  condition,  and  have  proved  invaluable  his- 
torical records. 

PERSIAN. 

Persian  earthenware  and  fayence  are  of  many  kinds,  but 
our  knowledge  regarding  their  production  is  so  uncertain 
that  it  is  difficult  to  affix  any  accurate  dates.  The  earliest 
pottery  extant  is  supposed  to  be  a metallic  lustred  ware, 
which  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  was  produced  several 
centuries  before  our  era.  It  is  certain  that  the  Arabs,  after 
their  invasion  of  Persia  in  A.  D.  636,  learned  there  and 
carried  into  Spain  the  art  of  making  the  lustred  ware  now 


102 


ANCIENT  POTTERIES. 


known  as  Hispano-moresque.  In  Persia,  fragments  have 
been  found  among  the  debris  of  the  older  ruins  of  Rhages, 
which  was  finally  and  totally  destroyed  in  1250  B.  C. 
These  fragments  are  of  two  colors : yellow  of  various 
shades  and  lapis  lazuli  blue.  Tiles  with  metallic  lustre 
have  also  been  found  among  the  ruins  of  Rhages  and  date 
back  to  a remote  age.  None  have  been  made  since  the 
time  of  Shah  Abbas  (A.  D.  1582-1628),  the  art  apparently 
having  been  lost.  Some  of  these  tiles  are  found  eight 
feet  in  length,  they  are  ornamented  with  figures  in  relief, 
and  occasionally  bear  inscriptions. 

Next  in  importance  to  this  lustred  ware  is  a very  beau- 
tiful and  close-grained  earthenware,  of  which  Chardin, 
writing  about  1600,  says  : “ The  earth  of  the  fayence  is  of 
pure  enamel,  like  Chinese  porcelain,  and  it  has  a grain  just 
as  fine  and  transparent,  which  very  frequently  renders  it 
difficult  to  decide  whether  an  object  is  Persian  or  Chi- 
nese.” This  difficulty  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  we 
often  find  Chinese  marks  on  pieces  evidently  made  of 
Persian  earth,  which  is  entirely  different  from  any  known 
to  exist  in  China.  But  this  merely  goes  to  prove  the 
imitation  of  Chinese  pieces  and  the  importation  of  Chinese 
workmen. 

Persia  up  to  the  end  of  the  time  of  Shah  Abbas,  or  about 
A.  D.  1628,  was  the  central  point  of  the  route  between 
China  and  the  West,  thus  many  Chinese  objects  made 
prior  to  this  date  are  found  in  Persia.  An  officer  of  the 
British  government  made  a large  collection  of  such  Chinese 
objects,  which  are  now  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 
Sir  John  Malcolm,  in  his  “ History  of  Persia,”  tells  us  that 
in  1256  twelve  hundred  families  of  Chinese  artisans  and 
engineers  came  to  Persia  and  there  plied  their  trades. 

Persia  still  attempts  to  make  this  fine-grained  earthen- 


PHOENICIAN. 


IO3 


ware,  but  with  very  little  success.  On  objects  of  recent  date 
the  glaze  is  more  vitrified,  the  colors  less  pure  and  blended 
in  the  glaze,  and  the  designs  poorly  executed.  The  usual 
color  of  these  pieces,  azure  blue  on  a white  ground,  is  known 
as  blue  and  white.  Another  kind  was  of  a more  porous, 
softer,  but  thicker  paste,  of  coarser  workmanship  and  gen- 
erally inferior,  still  occasional  pieces  of  much  merit  are 
found  executed  in  various  colors,  red,  lapis  lazuli,  yellow*, 
blue,  etc. 

Another  variety  still  thicker  and  coarser,  the  paste  more 
or  less  dark  in  color,  and  the  glaze  thick  and  very  white, 
resembles  to  some  extent  the  stanniferous  earthenware  in- 
vented by  the  Arabs  early  in  the  XVIth  century.  Some  of 
these  objects  are  covered  with  a solid  color  which,  when 
of  lapis  lazuli  blue,  is  very  brilliant.  We  also  find  a white 
earthenware  translucent  which  has  been  considered  by 
many  to  be  a porcelain. 

Chardin  speaks  of  the  porcelain  of  Karamania  as  re- 
sembling that  of  China,  and  Pliny  also  alludes  to  a sub- 
stance found  in  Karamania  of  which  murrhine  vases  were 
made.  The  chief  place  of  manufacture  was  Kashan  and 
its  neighborhood,  including  Nain,  where  good  clay  is  still 
found.  Cobalt,  the  color  chiefly  used,  is  also  found  at 
Kashan.  Near  Meshed  a stonew*are  was  made  of  blueish 
soapstone,  which  was  cut  and  hollowed  out  of  one  solid 
piece  into  teapots,  coffeepots,  cups,  bowls;  etc. 

PHCENICIAN. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  Phoenicia  were  probably  no- 
mads, who  wandered  along  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Arabian 
Sea,  and  settled  in  Phoenicia.  They  developed  into  a na- 
tion of  traders,  soon  learned  what  their  neighbors  were 


104 


ANCIENT  POTTERIES. 


doing,  and,  profiting  by  experience,  surpassed  them  in 
development  and  utilized  their  products  in  commerce; 
they  became  the  commercial  people  of  the  early  ages  and 
pioneers  of  the  sea;  they  established  colonies  in  Asia 
Minor,  Crete,  Lydia  and  Greece  as  early  as  1500  B.  C., 
and  later  in  Rhodes,  Sicily,  Sardinia  and  Spain  (where 
they  built  the  city  of  Cadiz) ; their  vessels  sailed  to  the 
Scilly  and  British  Isles,  and  into  the  North  Sea.  It  is 
even  said  that  they  circumnavigated  Africa. 

In  1440  B.  C.,  the  Israelites  from  Egypt  settled  as 
neighbors  in  Palestine,  and  brought  with  them  their  arts 
and  its  influences.  During  Solomon’s  reign  the  first  voy- 
age to  Spain  was  made,  and  the  vessel  returned  laden 
with  gold,  iron,  silver,  tin,  lead,  etc.  About  555  B.  C. 
Cyrus  broke  the  Assyrian  rule,  and  they  passed  under  the 
Persian  yoke.  About  330  B.  C.  Alexander  with  his 
Macedonians  conquered  Persia  and  Phoenicia,  and  in  65 
B.  C.  the  Romans  subjugated  them. 

Some  writers  claim  that  the  common  pottery  of  Phoe- 
nicia was  primeval  with  that  of  Egypt.  At  first  the  Phoe- 
nicians made  a very  simple  unglazed  and  undecorated 
pottery,  gray  in  color,  and  copied  nature  or  drew  upon 
their  imagination  for  forms.  Later  they  ornamented  this 
same  pottery  with  rings  and  other  geometrical  lines  in 
black  or  red.  About  this  time  Egyptian  influence  began 
to  show  itself,  and  very  soon  glazes  were  applied.  A 
lustre  seems  to  have  been  produced  by  them  at  an  early 
period.  A pottery  decorated  with  black  figures  on  red 
ground  and  red  figures  on  black  ground  was  made  from 
about  500  B.  C.,  after  which  date  Phoenician  potters  made 
no  progress,  their  country  became  a prey  to  the  invaders 
and  internal  dissension,  and  art  was  lost  or  forgotten. 


GRECIAN. 


105 


GRECIAN. 

Clay  pottery  may  be  said  to  have  reached  its  perfection 
under  the  artistic  hands  of  the  Greeks,  whose  exquisite 
shapes,  designs  and  decorations,  perfecting  the  slow  pro- 
gress of  the  Egyptians,  raised  it  from  the  position  of  merely 
filling  household  wants,  to  that  of  a vehicle  for  expres- 
sing the  rapid  and  wonderful  development  of  Greek  art. 
The  earliest  specimens  of  Greek  pottery  date  back  to  about 
800  B.  C.,  and  in  some  cases  show  traces  of  Eastern  influ- 
ences in  their  decoration.  The  earliest  Greek  pottery  was 
made  at  Samos,  Athens,  and  Corinth,  and  was  slightly 
lustred.  It  was  produced  from  yellowish  earth,  and  fash- 
ioned into  very  simple  forms  which  were,  in  the  beginning, 
copied  from  Egyptian  models,  and  indeed  made  by  Egyp- 
tian hands,  but  soon  the  Greeks,  accepting  and  improving 
the  civilization  of  the  Egyptian  colonists,  developed 
their  industries  and  their  arts,  and  acquired  the  secrets  of 
making  the  finest  ceramic  pastes.  If  we  may  credit  Her- 
odotus, the  potteries  at  Samos  existed  ten  centuries  before 
Christ.  It  was  as  modellers  and  not  as  decorators  that 
the  Greeks  especially  excelled.  Phidias  and  other  cele- 
brated artists  furnished  designs  for  the  potters. 

P'rom  the  defeat  of  the  Greeks  at  Qeronia  (338  B.  C), 
by  Philip  of  Macedon,  which  left  their  country  little  better 
than  a Macedonian  province,  we  date  the  decadence  of 
their  arts.  From  their  alliance  with  the  Romans  to  the 
capture  of  Corinth,  when  they  passed  under  the  Roman 
yoke,  ease  and  luxury  also  had  corrupted  them  and  finally 
in  our  IVth  century  the  barbarians  swept  their  country 
and  destroyed  even  the  remains  of  this  nation  to  whom  we 
owe  so  much  that  is  pure  and  beautiful  in  art. 


io6 


ANCIENT  POTTERIES. 


ETRURIA. 

Etruria,  according  to  Herodotus,  was  settled  by  a colony 
of  Lydians,  the  wealthiest  and  most  luxurious  people  of 
Asia  Minor,  to  whom  it  is  by  some  supposed,  and  with  rea- 
son, the  Greeks  owe  the  earlier  development  of  their  arts 
and  sciences,  which  would  account  for  traces  of  eastern 
ornamentation  on  early  Greek  work.  Vases  of  beautiful 
design,  ornamented  in  relief,  and  with  paintings  in  black 
outline,  have  received  the  name  of  Etruscan  vases,  but  of 
late  years  it  has  been  clearly  proven  that  the  most  of  these 
are  of  Greek  origin,  only  copies  having  been  made  in 
Etruria.  A red  lustred  ware  was  made  at  Arezzo,  in 
Etruria,  and  also  a red  earthenware  covered  with  black 
glaze  and  ornaments  in  relief.  Among  the  ruins  of  Car- 
thage (destroyed  146  B.  C.,  and  afterwards  by  Arabs  in  the 
Vlth  century),  amphorae  have  been  found,  supposed  to 
have  been  from  Etruria,  inscribed  with  the  names  of  Marius 
and  Longinus.  Etruria  was  at  the  height  of  its  splendor 
when  Rome  was  founded,  754  B.  C.,  and  before  it  attained 
the  height  reached  by  Greece  it  was  destroyed  by  invasion 
and  internal  dissensions  Excellent  in  jeweler’s  work, 
the  Etruscans  were  never  pre-eminent  potters. 


ROMAN. 

Roman  pottery  owes  it  origin,  as  do  all  the  Roman  arts, 
to  the  Greeks.  Both  potters  and  artists  were  brought  to 
Rome  as  prisoners,  were  liberated,  and  induced  or  forced 
to  produce.  The  result  was  a Greco-Roman  Art.  The 
most  interesting  development  of  pottery  due  to  the  Ro- 
mans are  the  terra-cotta  bas-reliefs,  with  which  they  orna- 


ROMAN. 


IO7 


mented  their  houses.  That  these  decorations  were  first 
executed  by  Greeks  is  indicated  by  the  subjects,  but  the 
development  is  due  to  Roman  taste.  Little  terra-cotta 
figures  of  heroes  and  gods  were  placed  in  every  house- 
hold, after  the  habit  of  the  Greeks. 


EUROPEAN  POTTERIES. 


- 


' 


- 


SPAIN  AND  MAJORCA. 

The  Arabs  held  sway  in  Spain  from  the  year  A.  D.  710 
until  nearly  1100;  the  Moors  conquered  the  country  and 
established  the  kingdom  of  Granada  in  1235.  It  is  known 
that  potteries  had  been  established  in  Valencia  previous 
to  its  capture  by  the  Moors  under  Jay  me  I,  of  Arragon, 
in  1239.  What  was  produced  previous  to  this  date  is  un- 
known, but  this  date  can  be  affixed  with  certainty  to  the 
production  of  lustred  stanniferous  enamelled  pieces  known 
as  Hispano-moresque. 

This  lustre  and  stanniferous  enamel  was  undoubtedly 
introduced  into  Spain  from  Persia  through  Arabia.  We 
think  the  supposition  correct  that  this  same  ware  was  pro- 
duced on  the  island  of  Majorca  as  early  as,  if  not  before, 
1235,  and  was  largely  exported  into  Italy,  where  it  was 
called  Maiolica  ware  (Maiolica  being  the  old  pronunciation 
of  Majorca). 

Majolica,  if  correctly  applied,  would  designate  only 
lustred  stanniferous  enamelled  ware  produced  upon  the 
island.  But  modern  custom  has  made  the  word  apply  to 
all  the  Italian  enamelled  wares  produced  since  the  time  of 
Lucca  della  Robbia. 


ITALY. 

The  earliest  objects  of  Italian  impermeable  potteries  are 
those  found  in  the  Presbytery  of  the  Church  of  San  Maria- 
a-Mare,  built  in  the  XHIth  century  at  Castro-Nuovo,  and 
those  of  the  steeple  of  Atri,  dating  about  the  year  1279. 


1 1 2 


EUROPEAN  POTTERIES. 


Of  course  we  do  not  mean  to  exclude  the  fragments  found 
at  Tarsus  and  preserved  in  the  museums,  which  date  back 
to  the  Greco-Roman  period,  and  bear  evidence  of 
plumbeous  glaze. 

But  the  use  of  stanniferous  enamel  was  not  perfected  in 
Italy  until  about  1432,  by  Lucca  della  Robbia  (1400-1481), 
who  applied  it  upon  a terra-cotta  base  and  produced  a 
new  ware  erroneously  called  Majolica.  The  earliest  date 
affixed  to  a piece  of  Lucca  della  Robbia’s  work  is  1438, 
and  is  not  lustred.  Lucca  della  Robbia  was  brought  up 
a goldsmith,  and  subsequently  studied  sculpture ; he  was 
a pupil  of  Ghiberti,  and  is  reputed  to  have  assisted  him 
in  making  the  superb  bronze  gates  of  the  Baptistery  of 
the  Cathedral  at  Florence. 

The  earliest  date  upon  a piece  of  Italian  lustred  ware  is 
1489.  After  1570  its  production  decreased  rapidly;  the 
earlier  Italian  lustred  pieces  are  now  called  Mezzo- 
Majolica,  because,  unlike  the  majolica  ware,  they  were 
lead  and  not  tin  glazed.  The  ground  was  of  a buff  color, 
which  was  sometimes,  before  glazing,  covered  with  a thin 
coating  of  fine  white  clay,  making  it  resemble  more  the 
true  majolica.  The  sgraffiati  or  incised  ware  was  pro- 
duced by  engraving  through  this  white  surface  and 
exposing  the  terra  cotta  beneath.  This  mezzo-majolica 
was  first  produced  at  Pesaro,  in  whose  archives  it  is 
frequently  mentioned,  and  afterwards  at  Gubbio  and 
Diruta. 

Federigo  de  Montefeltro,  the  second  Duke  of  Urbino 
(1444-1482),  both  soldier  and  scholar,  did  much  to  assist 
and  incite  the  production  of  artistic  work  of  all  kinds. 
Lucca  della  Robbia  produced  works  for  him.  Under  the 
third  Duke  of  Urbino,  Guidobaldo  (1482-1508),  stanni- 
ferous enamel  or  true  majolica  was  produced  at  Faenza, 


ITALY. 


113 

Florence,  Urbino,  Pesaro,  and  other  places  in  Italy.  The 
production  increased  and  was  perfected  under  succeed- 
ing dukes  until  1631,  when  Francesca  Maria  II,  the  sixth 
and  last  Duke  of  Urbino,  died,  and  the  artists  losing  their 
protectors  soon  lost  their  art.  The  rich  collections  which 
had  been  formed  at  the  palaces  of  the  Dukes  of  Urbino 
fell  into  the  rapacious  hands  of  Ferdinand  de  Medici  and 
were  removed  to  Florence.  Attempts  to  revive  this  in- 
dustry have  been  several  times  made  with  mediocre  suc- 
cess, and  at  the  present  day  Ferlini  in  Bologna,  Ginori 
in  Doccia,  Joseph  Devers  in  Paris,  and  Minton  in  Eng- 
land, imitate  della  Robbia’s  ware,  and  recently  some  very 
fair  specimens  of  lustre  have  been  produced. 

The  development  and  increase  of  the  production  of 
majolica  in  Italy  were  due  to  the  protection  and  assistance 
of  the  noble  families  which  arose  to  power  and  distinction 
in  Italy  during  the  XIVth,  XVth  and  XVIth  centuries, 
especially  to  the  six  Dukes  of  Urbino  (1443-1631),  and  to 
the  Medici  family,  who  first  appeared  in  Florence  in  1380, 
attained  great  power  under  Lorenzo,  about  1350,  and  were 
banished  from  1498  to  1512,  when  they  returned  to  attain 
greater  influence  and  wealth.  After  1631  the  dukedom  of 
Urbino  reverted  to  the  Pope,  who  failed  to  encourage  or 
assist  the  artists  in  the  production  of  fine  work,  and  soon 
the  invasion  and  conquest  of  Italy  by  Charles  V,  of  Spain, 
overturned  the  existing  noble  families  and  inaugurated  a 
new  order  of  things.  About  this  date  Oriental  porcelain 
was  introduced,  and  it  superseded  the  production  of 
majolica,  which  soon  became  almost  a lost  art. 

At  Castelli,  near  Naples,  in  1450,  mezzo-majolica  was 
produced,  and  from  1525  to  the  present  day,  stanniferous 
enamelled  faience  has  still  been  made.  Beautiful  pieces 
were  produced  at  this  factory  in  the  XVIth  century,  and  it 


EUROPEAN  POTTERIES. 


I 4 

was  from  here  that  Naples  called  artists  to  found  its  pot- 
teries in  1524. 

The  RoyaPFactory  of  Capo-de-Monte  was  founded  in 
Naples  in  1736  by  Charles  III.  A kind  of  porcelain  and. 
a very  beautiful  faience  were  produced.  This  factory  is 
still  noted  for  its  artistic  bas  and  haut  reliefs,  which  are 
beautifully  colored. 


GERMANY. 

To  Germany  is  due  the  credit  of  producing  in  Europe 
the  first  impermeable  modellings  covered  with  enamels. 
These,  dating  back  to  the  XHIth  century,  are  found  in  its 
churches,  and  indeed  in  the  Museum  of  Nuremberg  are 
some  enamelled  blue  and  white  tiles  which  date  between 
1150  and  1200,  from  the  Church  of  St.  Peter’s  at  Rostock. 
Brongniart  erroneously  says  this  impermeable  mineral 
varnish  dates  only  from  the  XHIth  century,  whereas  both 
the  ancient  Egyptians  and  Greeks  used  it.  He  also  says 
stanniferous  enamel  was  the  invention  of  Lucca  della 
Robbia,  when  in  fact  the  Egyptians,  Arabs,  Persians  and 
Greeks  all  employed  it.  Its  introduction  into  Italy  is 
easily  traced  from  Persia,  but  the  route  of  its  introduction 
into  Northern  Europe  is  more  obscure.  It  was  known 
and  produced  in  Germany  as  early  as  A.  D.  1200,  and 
the  secret  of  its  production  must  have  come  from  Persia. 

Germany’s  influence  upon  the  development  of  the  pot- 
teries of  Europe  was  very  great.  She  sent  workmen 
direct  into  Holland,  Flanders,  Northern  France,  England, 
Denmark,  Sweden,  and  even  Portugal ; and  in  all  these 
countries  factories  were  established  by  Germans.  Even 
Bernard  Palissy  received  his  incentive  from  Germany. 

No  city  in  Europe  has  played  a more  essential  part  in 


HOLLAND. 


115 

the  advancement  of  the  arts  than  Nuremberg.  As  early 
as  the  year  1300  her  artisans  had  produced  little  figures 
in  unglazed  clay,  and  stanniferous  and  plumbeous  enam- 
elled ware  in  1400,  perhaps  even  prior  to  this  date ; and 
finally  in  1712  the  soft  paste  porcelain.  The  family  of  the 
Hirschvogels,  potters,  and  painters  on  glass,  consisted  of 
five  artists;  the  grandfather  who  lived  from  1471  to  1553  ; 
his  three  sons,  Veit,  August  and  Hans,  and  a grandson 
Sebald  (who  died  in  1589),  the  son  of  Veit.  Their  work 
was  in  the  style  of  the  Italian  majolicas,  but  more  brilliant 
in  color ; their  clay  came  from  near  Amberg. 


HOLLAND. 

The  earliest  marks  found  upon  pieces  produced  at 
Delft  date  from  about  1600,  a century  and  a half  after  the 
introduction  of  Chinese  porcelain  into  Europe,  although 
some  authors  carry  its  existence  back  to  1310.  It  is  best 
known  by  its  copies  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  porcelain. 
The  best  work  was  done  about  the  commencement  of  the 
XVIIth  century.  The  quality  of  the  Delft  is  finer  than 
any  other  European  faience ; in  some  cases  it  almost  rivals 
the  Chinese  porcelain ; lustred  pieces  were  also  produced 
at  Delft.  It  is  remarkable  that  Delft  and  the  factories  of 
Germany  should  have  attained  such  perfection,  through 
the  efforts  of  individuals  alone,  without  any  assistance 
from  noble  patronage  or  donation.  It  is  an  error  to  sup- 
pose that  the  factory  at  Delft  was  founded 'by  Italians  ; it 
undoubtedly  owes  its  origin  to  Germany,  and  its  first 
works  were  produced  by  German  artists. 


n6 


EUROPEAN  POTTERIES. 


FRANCE. 

Bernard  Palissy. 

“ Povrete  empeche  les  bons  esprits  de  parvenir.” 

Bernard  Palissy  was  born  in  the  village  of  Lacapelle- 
Biron,  in  P6rigord,  about  1506.  He  worked  first  at 
painting  glass,  and  following  this  occupation  wandered 
over  France,  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  and  as  far  south 
as  the  Pyrenees.  In  1538  we  find  him  at  home  at  Xaintes, 
where  he  marries  and  becomes  the  father  of  a large  family, 
is  reduced  to  extreme  poverty  and  avows  himself  an  ardent 
Protestant.  About  1540  an  enamelled  cup  from  a factory 
at  Nuremberg  having  fallen  into  his  hands,  he  set  to  work, 
unaided,  to  reproduce  it.  After  years  of  misery  and  priva- 
tion he  succeeded,  and  soon,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Parthenay,  Pons  and  Soubise  families,  the  expounders  of 
Protestantism,  his  artistic  work  became  known,  and  Anne 
de  Montmorency  gave  him  her  protection.  In  1562,  but 
for  her  intercession,  he  would  have  lost  his  life  on  account 
of  his  religion,  which  he  professed  openly.  In  1563  we 
find  him  living  at  La  Rochelle,  where  he  published  one  of 
his  works.  Very  soon  after  this  he  moved  to  Paris  and 
became  the  firm  friend  of  Jean  Goujon,  his  co-religionist, 
who  was  killed  at  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  in 
1572.  Palissy  escaped  under  the  protection  of  Catherine 
de  Medici,  who  in  1562  had  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of 
“ Inventor  of  the  Rustic  Potteries  to  the  King  and  Queen 
Mother.” 

From  1575  to  1584  Palissy  delivered  courses  of  public 
lectures,  which  were  attended  by  his  most  learned  con- 
temporaries. Finally  in  1587,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one, 
on  account  of  his  religion,  he  was  thrown  into  the  Bastile, 


FRANCE. 


117 

where  he  died  about  1590.  Henri  III  paid  him  a visit 
there  and  exhorted  him  to  change  his  religion,  saying:  “ I 
have  been  constrained  to  give  you  up  to  your  enemies.” 
“ Sire,”  answered  Palissy,  “ you  have  often  said  that  you 
pitied  me,  and  now  I pity  you  who  have  just  said  ‘ I am 
constrained.’  Those  are  not  the  words  of  a king.  I am 
ready  to  give  my  life  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  whatever 
regret  I may  have  had  has  passed  away  in  hearing  my 
king  pronounce  the  words,  ‘I  am  constrained.’  That, 
Sire,  neither  you  nor  those  who  have  constrained  you  can 
effect  with  me,  because  I know  how  to  die.” 

Palissy  was  an  author,  an  engineer,  a geometrician,  a 
naturalist,  a philosopher,  an  artist,  and  a martyr.  His 
potteries,  original  in  design  and  execution,  have  been 
imitated  and  reproduced  down  to  the  present  day.  His 
moulds,  which  he  carefully  preserved,  were  sold  at  his 
death  and  used  by  his  successors.  The  principal  imitators 
of  his  style  to-day  are  MM.  Pull  and  Barbizet  at  Paris, 
the  Avisseaus  at  Tours,  and  Minton  at  Stoke-upon-Trent 
in  England. 

Henri  II  Ware. 

The  author  and  production  of  the  seventy-two  pieces 
called  Henri  II  or  Diane  de  Poitiers  ware  are  still  clouded 
in  mystery,  but  everything  tends  to  prove  they  are  the 
production  of  several  artists,  working  in  different  localities 
and  at  different  periods,  in  imitation  of  a style  which  had 
pleased  the  fancy  of  the  King.  Most  of  them  were  made 
near  the  close  of  the  XVIth  century,  and  are  formed  of  a 
kind  of  pipe-clay.  From  the  fact  that  most  of  these 
pieces  were  found  in  Tourraine  we  conclude  that  they 
must  have  been  produced  there.  A number  of  them  bear 
the  arms  of  France  and  the  monogram  of  Henri  II. 


n8 


EUROPEAN  POTTERIES. 


Only  one  object,  a plate  in  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  bears  any  mark  and  this  is  unintelligible. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  and  several  works  pub- 
lished in  reference  to  this  remarkable  ware,  without,  how- 
ever, clearing  the  mystery  about  its  production. 

Rouen. 

The  first  factory  at  Rouen  was  established  about  the 
year  1640,  and  a second  one  in  1673,  by  workmen  from 
Delft,  whose  rival  it  became  until  the  Sevres  monopoly 
arrested  its  progress. 


ENGLAND. 

It  was  not  until  the  last  century  that  English  potters 
made  any  progress  in  the  artistic  development  of  their 
productions ; previous  to  that  time  objects  of  common 
baked  material  for  household  uses  alone  had  been  made. 
Towards  the  middle  of  the  XVIIIth  century  several  fac- 
tories with  artistic  pretensions  were  founded,  the  principal  of 
which  were  Bow,  about  1735;  Chelsea,  1735;  Bow  Chelsea, 
1749;  Astbury  (Wedgwood),  1750;  Derby,  1751;  Wor- 
cester, 1751;  Stoke-upon-Trent,  1778;  Swansea,  1790, 
and  others.  All  of  these  factories  seemed  to  have  used 
kaolin  from  the  start,  and,  therefore,  to  have  produced  a 
kind  of  porcelain  some  of  which  is  translucent  and  some 
opaque.  Soft  paste  was  made  at  Bow,  Chelsea,  Derby, 
Worcester,  and  an  intermediate  porcelain  at  Bow  Chelsea 
and  Stoke-upon-Trent. 

Porcelain  of  all  kinds  was  made  at  Astbury,  where 
Josiah  Wedgwood  was  born  in  1730,  and  died  in  1795. 
This  remarkable  man,  the  pioneeer  in  the  production  of 
artistic  porcelain  in  England,  introduced  and  worked  in 


ENGLAND. 


many  styles,  but  copied  more  than  he  invented.  One  of 
the  most  important  of  his  successes  was  that  he  attracted 
the  interest  of  persons  of  rank,  who  previously  in  Eng- 
land had  paid  no  attention  to  the  art;  in  this  he  was 
greatly  aided  by  his  partner,  Thomas  Bentley. 

Much  of  the  later  success  of  Wedgwood  was  due  to 
the  excellent  taste  and  beautiful  designs  of  the  sculptor, 
John  Flaxman,  whom  he  first  employed  about  the  year 
1775.  Flaxman,  after  completing  his  art  studies  at  the 
Royal  Academy,  located  in  London,  and  furnished  both 
drawings  and  modellings  ; subsequently,  in  the  year  1787, 
he  went  to  Rome,  whence  he  continued  those  classical 
compositions  which  have  made  the  Wedgwood  ware  so 
noted. 

Whatever  was  accomplished  in  England  in  this  branch 
of  art  was  accomplished  by  individual  efforts,  unaided  by 
royal  patronage. 


EUROPEAN  PORCELAIN. 


DRESDEN. 


The  date  and  place  of  manufacture  of  the  first  true  por- 
celain in  Europe  is  very  naturally  a question  of  dispute.  It 
has  been  claimed  that  about  the  year  1500,  at  Pesaro,  in  the 
Duchy  of  Urbino,  porcelain  was  made.  This  statement 
has  not  been  proven,  however,  and  most  probably  the 
product  was  merely  a faience  of  extra  fine  grain  and 
superior  whiteness.  The  earliest  definite  information  we 
have  points  to  John  Frederich  Bottcher  as  its  first  manu- 
facturer. Bottcher  was  a native  of  Shleiz  in  Vogtland, 
Saxony,  where  he  was  born  in  1682,  and  from  overwork 
and  dissipation  died  in  1 7 1 9,  when  but  thirty-seven  years  old. 
He  studied  chemistry,  and  was  reputed  to  have  discovered 
the  “ Philosopher’s  Stone.”  He  was  appointed  alchemist 
to  King  William  the  First,  and  having  rebelled  against  the 
surveillance  exercised  over  him,  fled  from  his  court,  was 
captured  and  confined  in  the  fortress  of  Konigstein,  whence 
he  was  taken  to  Dresden  and  kept  under  lock  and  key. 
For  many  years  the  production  of  porcelain  had  been  a 
goal  sought  for  by  the  chemists  of  Europe,  and  Bottcher 
had  spent  much  time  in  the  search.  One  day,  by  chance, 
he  made  the  discovery.  He  bought  a new  powder,  called 
“ Schnorr’s  White  Powder,”  for  his  wig,  and  noticing  that 
the  powder  had  great  weight  and  a fine  grain,  he  experi- 
mented with  it  in  his  crucible  and  discovered  it  to  be  the 
kaolin  of  the  Chinese. 

The  first  porcelain  factory  was  at  Albrechtsburg,  in 
Meissen,  and  was  a veritable  fortress,  surrounded  by  a 


124 


EUROPEAN  PORCELAIN. 


moat.  The  secret  of  its  manufacture  was  guarded  in  the 
most  rigid  manner,  under  a penalty  of  imprisonment  for 
life  to  him  who  should  betray  it.  Notwithstanding  these 
precautions  the  secret  escaped,  and,  one  after  another,  fac- 
tories were  established.  That  at  Meissen,  called  the  Royal 
Saxe,  because  it  was  under  royal  patronage,  was  estab- 
lished in  1704.  Bottcher  is  said  to  have  produced  porce- 
lain here  in  1707,  but  it  seems  doubtful  whether  it  was  be- 
fore 1712  or  1713,  as  kaolin  is  not  known  to  have  been 
used  even  as  a wig  powder,  by  Schnorr,  until  1711.  The 
pottery  produced  here,  from  1704  until  porcelain  was 
made,  was  of  a dull  reddish  brown,  generally  unglazed. 
After  1705  this  ware  was  sometimes  polished.  A few 
pieces  with  colored  enamel  decorations  in  relief,  were  also 
made  at  this  period. 

VIENNA. 

In  1718  Samuel  Henzel  went  from  Meissen  to  Vienna, 
and  under  the  direction  of  a Belgian,  Claude  du  Pasquier, 
established  a factory  of  porcelain,  which,  in  1744,  was  pur- 
chased by  Maria  Theresa;  from  1785  to  1815  some  of  the 
most  artistic  porcelain  of  Europe  was  produced  here  ; 
beginning  with  1815  the  quality  of  the  work  gradually 
declined  until  1867,  when  the  factory  ceased  to  manufac- 
ture. One  of  the  most  remarkable  products  of  Vienna 
was  the  massive  incrustations  of  gold  invented  by  Herold, 
who  had  been  the  Director  at  Meissen  from  1721  to  1731. 

SEVRES. 

Next  in  chronological  order  of  the  four  Royal  factories 
is  Sevres.  The  two  brothers  Dubois,  one  a modeller,  the 
other  a painter,  came  in  1725  from  the  factory  at  St.  Cloud 


SEVRES. 


125 


to  Chantilly,  then  under  the  patronage  of  the  Prince  de 
Cond6,  where  they  produced  objects  of  p&te-tendre.  In 
1738  they  established  a new  factory  at  Vincennes,  which 
was,  in  1740,  transferred  to  Sevres,  where  they  continued 
to  produce  objects  of  soft  paste.  No  marks  were  used 
until  after  1753,  when  Louis  XV  purchased  a third  interest 
in  the  factory,  and  extended  to  it  his  royal  patronage. 

The  ground  colors  which  have  been  most  admired  as 
the  production  of  Sevres  are:  Bleu  Turquoise,  also  known 
as  Bleu  Ancien  or  Bleu  du  Roy  ; Gros  Bleu,  also  known  as 
Bleu  Royal  or  Beau  Bleu  ; Bleu  Turc  or  Turquin,  which  is 
not  the  turquoise,  but  a pale  grayish  blue ; Gris  d’ Agathe, 
Purpre,  Carmine,  Bleu  lapis,  Vert  and  Jaune.  Rose  Pom- 
padour or  DuBarry  was  invented  in  1757  by  Xhrouet,  who 
received  one  hundred  and  fifty  livres  as  a reward  for  his 
invention.  The  first  jewelled  Sevres  was  made  in  1780, 
not  earlier  as  claimed  by  some  writers.  The  first  soft 
paste  was  produced  between  the  years  1740  and  1769.  In 
1769  kaolin  was  found  at  Limoges,  and  the  brothers  Dubois 
produced  the  first  hard  paste  or  true  porcelain  at  Sevres. 
From  1769  to  1804  hard  and  soft  paste  were  produced 
simultaneously  ; from  1804  to  I^07  hard  paste  was  alone 
made.  Since  1847  Sevres  has  again  produced  both.  All 
manner  of  protection  was  given  to  this  factory  by  the  royal 
patronage.  In  1760  an  edict  from  the  Council  forbade  the 
use  of  any  color  or  gilding,  with  the  exception  of  blue,  in 
any  other  factory  in  France  than  Sevres.  Such  arbitrary 
laws  were  hurtful  to  general  progress,  since  they  excluded 
competition,  its  very  life.  Under  the  direct  royal  patron- 
age and  purse,  the  orders  received  or  extorted  from  the 
nobility  and  the  influence  of  the  artistic  period  in  France, 
Sevres  soon  outstripped  all  competitors. 

Sevres  has  always  employed  artists  of  great  merit. 


126 


EUROPEAN  PORCELAIN. 


Among  those  in  our  own  day , are  B6ranger,  Huard, 
Robert,  Hamon,  Van  Marcke,  Andr6,  Troyon,  Solon,  and 
many  others.  Its  most  notable  Director  was  Brongniart, 
who  held  that  responsible  position  from  1800  until  1847. 

BERLIN. 

Berlin,  the  fourth  Royal  factory,  was  first  established  in 
1750  by  a merchant  named  Wegeli.  In  1761  it  belonged 
to  the  banker  Gottskowski,  who,  in  1763,  sold  it  to  Fred- 
erick the  Great  for  the  then  enormous  sum  of  eight 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  francs  (about  the  value  of  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to-day).  This  royal  factory 
has  produced  only  true  porcelain.  Frederick  took  great 
interest  in  his  purchase,  and  among  other  decrees  issued 
by  him  for  its  advantage  was  the  following,  repealed  in 
1787:  “That  in  place  of  other  special  levies  upon  the 
Jews,  each  Jew  should  upon  his  marriage  purchase  from 
five  to  twelve  thousand  thalers  of  porcelain  according  to 
his  estate.”  This  resulted  in  great  injury  to  this  beautiful 
porcelain,  and  drew  upon  it  the  name  of  the  porcelain  of 
the  Jews.  Berlin  had  the  honor  in  1791  of  having  as  one 
of  its  “Commissioners  on  Colors,”  the  great  Alexander 
von  Humboldt.  At  Berlin  were  produced  many  fine 
works  and  of  great  varieties.  The  decorations  have  been 
fully  equal  to  any  factory  outside  of  Sevres,  whose  fine 
pieces  were  sometimes  reproduced,  but  always  under  the 
Berlin  mark. 

Lithophanie  was  here  invented;  it  consists  of  making 
pictures  in  which  the  shades  are  produced  by  varying  the 
thickness  of  the  paste.  Whilst  at  this  factory  Pott  in- 
vented the  method  of  transferring  line  engravings  or 
colored  prints  to  porcelain. 


EUROPEAN  PORCELAIN. 


127 


True  porcelain,  or,  as  it  is  often  called,  hard  paste  porce- 
lain, is  composed  of  petunse  and  kaolin  with  a kaolinic 
glaze.  In  baking  it  requires  the  highest  temperature  of  a 
white  heat  to  effect  the  proper  junction  between  the 
particles  of  petunse,  which  never  fuses,  and  the  kaolin 

The  only  colors  which  will  not  burn  out  under  this 
great  heat  are  cobalt  blue,  and  a dull  red  used  by  the 
Chinese.  These  two  colors,  therefore,  are  the  only  ones 
found  applied  under  the  glaze  on  true  porcelain;  all 
others  have  to  be  applied  as  an  enamel  upon  the  surface 
of  the  glaze,  and  fixed  by  a second  baking  at  a lower 
temperature.  The  imitation  of  porcelain,  known  as  “soft 
paste,”  was  made  in  Europe  before  the  discovery  of 
kaolin,  and  therefore  lacks  the  important  element  of  true 
porcelain.  Its  paste  consists  of  petunse  and  a composite 
substitute  for  kaolin  formed  of  nitre,  sea-salt,  alum,  soda, 
gypsum,  white  chalk  and  marl,  which  are  varied  in  dif- 
ferent factories. 

This  paste,  like  that  of  true  porcelain,  is  translucid,  it  is 
soft  to  the  touch,  and  bakes  at  a low  temperature.  In  the 
oven  great  care  has  to  be  exercised,  as  the  least  excess  of 
heat  will  reduce  it  to  fragments.  For  this  reason  also 
hard  kaolinic  glaze,  which  requires  great  heat,  cannot  be 
used  upon  it.  The  glaze  applied  must  be  such  as  will  fuse 
at  a low  temperature ; alkaline  or  plumbeous  compounds 
are  therefore  used,  which,  after  firing,  can  easily  be  scratched 
with  a steel.  This  quality  we  presume  has  led  to  the 
misnomer  of  soft  paste  porcelain. 


Press  of  Isaac  Friedenwald, 
Baltimore,  Md. 


PLATE  A. 


Fig.  1. 

Fig.  2. 

M, 

Fig.  3. 

Fig.  4. 

Fig.  5* 

Fig.  6. 

Fig.  7. 

Fig.  8. 

O 

SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


PLATE  B. 


Fig.  9. 

Fig.  10. 

Fig,  11. 

Fig.  12. 

w 

yy 

Fig.  13. 

Fig.  14. 

JSL 

Fig.  15. 

Fig.  16. 

3§t 

SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


PLATE  C. 


Fig.  17. 


Fig.  18. 


Fig.  19. 


A 167. 


SYMBOLICAL  ORNAMENTS. 


u 


PLATE  D. 


HAN  CHUNG-LE  and  LEU  TUNG-PIN. 


A 167 


X 


PLATE  E. 


LE  TEE-KWAE  and  TSAOU  KWO-KIU. 


PLATE  -F. 


LAN  TSAE-HO  and  CHANG  KO-LAOU 


PLATE  G. 


HAN  SEANG-TSZE  and  HO  SEEN-KOO. 


.8 


